The Transfer Student
by Silver to Crimson
Summary: A girl tranfers from Durmstrang right before the Triwizard tournament, and problems arise, both within her new school and with her old classmates. Severus and Slytherin oriented, not a teacher-student pairing. NOT SLASH!
1. Little Did He Know

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters…J.K. Rowling does. I don't own Hogwarts, although it'd be pretty awesome if I did. Some of the chapter, okay a lot of it, is directly from the book, but I couldn't just go and change poor Dumbledore's speech now could I? I don't really own anything in this fic except Drea. She's the best, I love her. In a completely non-sexual way. 

Oh, and if you actually like Harry or Hermoine, don't read this, because it really doesn't follow them at all, and being that the fic is based around Severus, it probably not going to say very nice things about them. Okay, enough of my blabbering…ONWARD!!

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Chapter One – Little did he know…

Severus sighed and put down the parchment he had been reading. He had once again been cheated out the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. _And by Alastor Moody, no less, _he thought. _He was a good Auror in his day, but his day ended long ago._ He sighed again as he headed down to the Great Hall to await the students.

How he hated this job. It wasn't potions that he minded so much, but the students, or to be more precise, the immaturity of the students. Especially Potter. Potter was so lucky to even be alive, and yet he continued to risk his life as though he were invincible. _Now if he were in my custody,_ he thought, smirking at the idea, _I'd - _

"Hello Severus. You're sending out a tense aura. Is something troubling you, dear?" asked Professor Trelawny as she swooped down on him.

Severus smirked as he thought about the startling resemblance between Trelawny and a praying mantis. The smirk quickly changed to a look of disgust, though, when Trelawny put her hand on his shoulder.

"No, professor, I'm quite alright, thank you," he replied stiffly. "Now please remove your hand from my robes, they were just cleaned." Professor Trelawny looked taken aback, then disappointed as she glided into the Great Hall.

Severus took one final breath as he prepared himself for whatever it was that awaited him. Dumbledore had asked that all the teachers arrive half an hour earlier than usual and Severus was unusually curious. He already knew about the Triwizard Tournament, what could be more important than that? _Maybe Potter has been mortally wounded and won't be returning to Hogwarts this year,_ he allowed himself to wish. He smirked as he entered the Great Hall and took his usual spot at the table.

After another five boring and uneventful minutes, Dumbledore stood up to make his speech. "As you all know, the Triwizard Tournament will be held this year. I just wanted to remind you all that we must treat all members of all three schools equally."

__

What? thought Severus._ This is the reason that I had to leave my lesson planning? Sometimes I really do wonder if Dumbledore's fallen off his rocker._

"Speaking of which," he continued, "I have called you here to let you know that we will have a new student this year. She's fourteen years old and she's transferring from Durmstrang. Now I want you all to help her out as she may find it difficult to be in a school that is opposing her old one, especially during such a large event. That is all."

Dumbledore sat back down and picked absent-mindedly at a fingernail. Everyone was silent for a moment, and then, as though on cue, they burst into conversation, either about the new student or the Triwizard Tournament. Severus didn't join in, however, for he was staring at the empty chair next to Dumbledore.

About ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall went to fetch the first years. Severus' thoughts were interrupted by he chattering of students 2nd through 7th year. He subconsciously scanned the crowd for Potter, although he knew that he would be there, as Dumbledore hadn't mentioned anything about him. Or had he? Severus had a horrible habit of zoning out, picked up from the many years of lectures and beatings from his father.

__

Merlin's Third Testicle, he thought as he spotted the Holy Trio entering the Great Hall. He spirits were slightly raised as he spotted Colin Creevey approaching Harry. Colin had always annoyed Harry, and Severus was glad that it would continue.

Finally glancing toward his own house's table, Severus was relieved to see that Malfoy was back. _Good,_ he thought, _his father hasn't gotten him into Durmstrang yet. I'll remember to congratulate Narcissa._ Severus had never been particularly fond of the boy, but he would hate for him to be on the Dark Lord's side, and everyone knew that Durmstrang was a Dark Arts school.

His thought faded from Malfoy to the new girl. _What did Dumbledore say her name was?_ Only then did he notice that the sorting hat was speaking.

"…brains in me

So I could choose instead!

Now slip me snug about your ears,

I've never yet been wrong,

I'll have a look inside your mind,

And tell where you belong!"

Severus assumed by the sudden clapping that the Hat had finished. When all of the clapping and chatter had died down, he heard the annoying voice of Professor McGonagall.

"When I call out your name, you will put on the Hat and sit on the stool," she told the first years. "When the Hat announces your house, you will go and sit at the appropriate table."

"Ackerly, Stewart!"

A boy walked forward, visibly trembling from head to foot, picked up the Sorting Hat, put it on and sat down on the stool.

__

"Ravenclaw!"

"Baddock, Malcolm!"

__

"Slytherin!"

"Branstone, Eleanor!"

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"Hufflepuff!"

"Cauldwell, Owen!"

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"Hufflepuff!"

"Creevey, Dennis!"

__

Ah, finally, something for me to focus on. This Sorting may be the death of me! thought Severus. He watched as the Hat decided that Dennis should go to…

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"Gryffindor!"

My, won't this be amusing. An extra someone to annoy Potter. Only then did he notice that the younger Creevey boy was sopping wet. By listening carefully, he could just barely make out what had happened.

"…fell in!…It was brilli…something in the…grabbed me and…back in the boat!" exclaimed Dennis.

"Cool! …probably the…uid Dennis!" explained the older of the two, in the same excited tone.

"Wow!"

"Dennis! Dennis! See that…down there? …one with the …nd glasses? See him? Do …who he is, Dennis?"

Severus chuckled to himself. It wasn't quite a laugh, Severus hadn't laughed in a long time, but it was a chuckle, and that was all that he needed to distract him. He thought about how many hours the Creevey brothers would spend annoying Potter, and it was just enough to keep him distracted until the last student. He never did catch the name, but he did manage to hear…

__

"Hufflepuff!"

The students looked expectantly at Professor Dumbledore, waiting for him to say his three-word speech, but then noticed that there was one girl left. She definitely did not look like the other students. For one thing, she had bright purple hair. That was probably the biggest shock. For another thing, she looked about five years older than the other students did. Severus knew that she was only three years their senior, but questioned for a moment whether she had been held back a year. He also wondered if she was gothic, but dismissed the thought, as she had no jewelry, nor strange make-up.

Dumbledore stood up, and the eyes of all of the students, as well as the ghosts and the staff, followed him. After a moment's pause, he spoke.

"This is Drea Atheanae Daray, she's a transfer student from Durmstrang. She will be beginning in fourth year. She may know more or less than some of you because of the differences in curriculum, but nevertheless, you will treat her with the respect that everyone in this school deserves. Despite which house she is sorted into, I trust that she will be welcomed warmly."

Dumbledore nodded to McGonagall, and she signaled to Drea to step up to the Sorting Hat. She seemed surprisingly confident to Severus, although he had grown bored of the sorting. He propped his head up on one hand, and thought about the shower that he would enjoy just before heading off to bed. He just wished that the bloody sorting would end soon.

"Hmm…interesting," the Hat whispered so that only Drea could hear. "Plenty of courage, I see. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, that's the meaning of Drea. Clever as well, very witty. You work hard for what you believe in, do you not? Ahhh, but your desire to prove them all wrong is strong, very strong…let's see…I'll put you in…

__

"Slytherin!"

Severus snapped back into reality when he heard this. _What?! This purple haired child was in Slytherin? But…how? What? Why? Okay, get a hold of yourself, it's okay. I should have seen this coming, she did go to Durmstrang, after all. She'll be just like all the other Slytherins. It won't be a problem._ Why was he acting this way? It would be just fine, it had just caught him off guard, that was all. Without really noticing the sudden appearance of food, Severus began to eat.

Finally, when the puddings, too, had been demolished, and the last crumbs had faded off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean, Albus Dumbledore got to his feet again. The buzz of chatter filling the Hall ceased almost at once, so that only the howling wind and pounding rain could be heard.

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for you attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr Filch, the caretaker…"

__

Probably a list of things that are newly forbidden. When will the man learn that it only makes the students want them more? Severus sighed.

"…four hundred and thirty seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

Severus swore that he saw the corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitch.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

Severus watched the faces of the students. Some were talking up a frenzy, while others looked too shocked to speak.

Dumbledore continued, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up most of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder, and the doors of the Great Hall banged open.

There stood Mad-Eye Moody, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black travelling cloak. Severus straightened up, suddenly noticing that he was leaning against one hand, and watched as every head swiveled toward Moody. He took great amusement in watching the reaction of the students.

A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on Moody's every other step. He reached the end of the staff table, turned right and limped heavily towards Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Several students gasped.

Severus guessed that they must be noticing the man's gnarled face, along with his magic eye. Of course, they didn't know that it was magic, and Severus had to admit that he did look frightening.

Moody reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand and Dumbledore shook it, muttering words that Severus couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmilingly and replied in an undertone. Severus guessed that he must have asked about the trip there, or why he was late, and let it drop. Dumbledore nodded, and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

Moody sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of this face, pulled a plate of sausages towards him, raised it to what was left of his nose and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared the sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. Severus turned away, disgusted, and only looked back when Dumbledore began to speak.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," said Dumbledore brightly, into the silence. "Professor Moody."

Dumbledore and Hagrid put their hands together for Moody, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more that stare at him.

Dumbledore cleared his throat again.

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

"You're JOKING!" Severus heard either Fred or George Weasley say loudly, he wasn't sure which. Nearly everyone laughed, as the tension that had filled the room moments earlier was broken. He even heard Dumbledore chuckle.

"I am _not_ joking, Mr Weasley," he said, "though, now you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar - "

Severus shook his head disapprovingly. _He HAS gone off of his rocker, the poor bloke._

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time … no …" said Dumbledore. "Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament … well, some of you will not know what this Tournament involves, so I hope those who _do_ know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely…"

This was just what Severus needed, another long speech that he had already heard many times over the summer holidays. And he did allow his attention to wander freely, just as Dumbledore had suggested.

__

Mad-Eye Moody. What a prat. Exploding dustbins, what will he come up with next? Next thing you know, he'll be doing the Unforgivables in class. Severus released a sigh. Receiving a rather strange look from Professor Sinistra, he realized that he had placed his head in his hands. Straightening up, he caught a glance from Professor Trelawny. With a look of disgust, he decided that he was probably more safe watching the students.

Severus then realized that he hadn't even checked who his new students were. Turning towards his own table, he scanned for new faces. Drea caught his eye first, but then again, she would, what with having purple hair. She was interesting, he decided, not what he would have expected, coming from Durmstrang. He wondered where he'd seen her before, she seemed familiar. Casting her aside with his eyes, he checked for other students. Malcolm Baddock was there, of course, his parents were hoping to be upped in rank by breeding a full-fledged Death Eater. Two more kids that he didn't recognize were there too, one boy and one girl. _Oh well, I'm sure to find out who they are soon enough._ Allowing his thoughts to go back to Professor Dumbledore, he realized that he had managed to miss the entire speech. _Perfect, I'll just leave the first years to the Prefects and go to my chambers._

Severus stood up, and gave his orders to the Prefects. He glanced the little purple-haired girl again, but quickly stalked away to his chambers for his long awaited shower. Little did he know that the purple-haired girl would affect his life more than he could ever imagine.

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Okay, so that's my first chapter. Tell me what you think! And really, if you think it sucks, let me know so that I don't waste all my time writing something that sucks. Just a caution, this is NOT a fluffy love-y story. Severus does NOT fall in love with Drea, and visa-versa. Thanks for reading!! Muah!!


	2. Don't Stay Up Waiting For Me

My Notes: Hey guys, what'd you think of the last chapter? I suppose you must have liked it if you're still reading. Special thanks going out to mysterious-mists (hun, you gotta start uploading some of your stuff so that I can read it), book worm 878 (Snape doesn't suck! I love him, but thanks for the compliments), Vanyaria Darkshadow (thanks for the awesomeness of your review, it was great. Can't wait to read your fic), and misao-werewolf (Um…no.). Enjoy!! ^_^

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Chapter Two - Don't stay up waiting for me

"Slytherin!"

Drea carefully removed the Hat and walked towards the Slytherin table. She looked back towards Professor Snape, who had a look of shock on his face. Half-smiling, Drea took the only empty seat left.

__

Why is he so surprised, I did go to Durmstrang. I hope he doesn't cause any trouble for me. Karkaroff doesn't think very highly of him. Then again, I don't think very highly of Karkaroff.

Nobody approached Drea until half way through the feast. While she was eating her third Yorkshire pudding, a girl leaned across the table and spoke menacingly into her ear.

"Hey, I'm Pansy Parkinson, and you'd do well to remember it," she said.

__

What a sweet girl, she's trying to make friends with me already, Drea thought sarcastically.

"By the way, don't even think about going near Draco, he's mine," Pansy said. Upon seeing Drea's confused look, she pointed to an uptight looking boy that was sitting beside her, although, Drea noticed, he was definitely looking away from Pansy, not at her.

Drea started to laugh. "Don't even worry about it. I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole."

Pansy looked shocked, then disgusted, and left Drea to finish her meal in peace.

Later, when dessert was almost finished, Drea caught Draco staring at her. This could be interesting, thought Drea, remembering what Pansy had said to her earlier.

"Hello, you must be Draco. Why are you staring at me?"

Draco looked unfazed to the average student, but after spending much of her school days with soon-to-be-Death-Eaters, Drea had learned to read eyes, and to her, he looked taken aback, and she was right.

Nobody had ever spoken to him like that before, and he suddenly became very aware that he had, in fact, been staring at her. He quickly recovered, though.

"Actually yes, I am Draco, Draco Malfoy."

__

Really? I never would have guessed, what with the blond hair and the stuck-up, pompous look on your face.

"Why is your hair purple?" he smirked.

"I dunno, why is your hair white?"

"I was born that way."

To the trained eye, Draco looked ticked.

"Sure you were," Drea replied, returning to her treacle tart.

It was clear that the conversation was over.

When the dishes had finally been cleaned off, Dumbledore began to speak again.

"So!" he began, "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr Filch's office if anybody would like to check it."

__

Yeah, that'll definitely happen, Drea thought sarcastically.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the Forest in the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

__

That's too bad, I was hoping to watch a match without curses for once. Oh well, the Tournament will be better anyway.

"…in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have the great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

But Dumbledore didn't have a chance to tell the students why the Cup wouldn't take place, for at that moment, the doors of the Great Hall flew open.

There, standing in the doorway, was the most mangled man that Drea had ever seen. He lowered his hood and shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark grey hair. Drea recognized something briefly in his eye, the one that wasn't spinning round like a top.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."

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Ah, it's Mad-Eye Moody. That must be why he seemed familiar.

There was a bit of polite clapping from Dumbledore and a huge man whom Drea didn't know, but it died down quickly.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

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Oh my Gods, they've only just found out about it?! Durmstrang's known for almost a year!

The tension that had filled the room since the entrance of Professor Moody was broken suddenly when Fred; _Must be a Weasley_; said loudly, "You're JOKING!"

Nearly everyone laughed, Drea even smiled. Draco snickered and whispered into the ear of a boy sitting next to him. The boy then laughed along with him.

"I am not joking, Mr Weasley, though, now you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag and a leprechaun who all go into a bar -"

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time … no…" said Dumbledore.

__

Mmm…just maybe, she thought sarcastically.

"Where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament … well, some of you will not know what this Tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely."

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He may but nuts, but at least he's fair. I cannot believe that Durmstrang has an extra year over these guys. I wanted so badly to beat them. Drea sighed and focussed her attention on the staff table.

There weren't very many teachers that she recognized, but that had been expected. She noticed a very space-y looking woman giving Professor Snape a strange look, and watched as he sat up promptly. She also watched his face change to a look of disgust, but she never did find out why. She decided that she had better tune back in to Professor Dumbledore.

"I therefore beg you not waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen. The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October, and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. _Oh Merlin, why didn't I think of that before? This will be an interesting year, to say the least._ I know that you will all extend every courtesy to out foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

Drea stood up with the rest of her House. She watched Professor Snape say something to the Prefects, then left.

The Prefects lead the first years, along with Drea, down to the Slytherin dungeons. The rest of the House went their separate ways. Drea watched Pansy running to catch up with Draco, and laughed silently to herself.

Nobody approached Drea for the rest of the night, though she had to admit that she wasn't surprised. She figured that it was probably because she had just shot down the last two people that had attempted to speak to her. Drea noticed that Professor Snape hadn't been around since they had left the Great Hall, and wondered why. _I thought that I'd at least get to meet him before I have a class with him, we always did at Durmstrang._

Drea flopped on her bed, pulled out her guitar and began to strum the first few cords of 'Reason' by Hoobastank. She wasn't the greatest singer in the world, but she was good enough that she wasn't embarrassed, so she did.

Suddenly, Pansy barged into the room. She looked really mad, too, and Drea assumed that it was probably because she had shot down her beloved Draco.

"What the hell is all this noise about?!" she screamed.

"It's called music, and it isn't that loud," replied Drea nonchalantly.

"Well I could bloody well hear it from the Common Room, which makes it loud enough!"

"I'm sorry," she said with mock sincerity. "I'll just put a silencing charm on it." She could tell that Pansy was annoyed by her lack of response to her anger.

"Don't get fresh with me, you little orphan!" whispered Pansy in a cold tone that would have frozen beer.

"Actually, Pansy, my dad's just fine thank you," said Drea, her voice quivering a little.

"How would you know, he left you when you were two. I suppose you were right, you're not an orphan. You're just unloved."

"Shut up," Drea said in a menacing tone.

"Ya know what? I don't think I will. In fact, I'm beginning to have fun. Why don't we discuss the fact that your mom deserted you when you were 13 with –"

All of a sudden, Pansy hit the floor. She lay there, stunned for a moment, then reached up to her nose. Wiping away the blood, Pansy began to scream.

"If you ever," said Drea, silencing Pansy, "ever, call that woman my mother again, I'll do a lot more than give you a bleeding nose."

Drea picked up her guitar and walked out of the room. She heard Pansy begin to scream again, then heard people running towards the room. _Who the hell does she think she is, talking like that? And how did she find that stuff out in the first place?_

"Ms Daray! Ms Daray, come back here this instant," she heard the male Prefect calling.

Drea wasn't about to start running away, she had done nothing wrong. Merlin knew that Pansy had deserved it, but she wasn't about to hand herself in, either. _Screw that, they can come and get me if they want me so bad._

Unfortunately for Drea, they did. The male Prefect quickly caught up with her angry pace.

"Drea, what happened back there?" he asked.

"She was talking sh*t about me," she replied, clenching her jaw.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to explain better than that."

"It's not really any of your concern what she said, is it now?"

"There's no reason to be angry with me, I'm only doing my job."

"Sorry," she replied honestly.

"As am I. Now, you are going to have to tell me exactly what happened back there, or I will be forced to take you to Professor Snape, and you wouldn't want to disturb his sleep on your first night here, now would you?"

"Actually, I think that that's probably the best idea. Lead the way."

The Prefect's eyes grew to twice their size at the thought of disturbing the Professor that late at night. "You'll see him in the morning," he said curtly.

"But what if I do it again? We would want that poor girls face to be any more deformed than it already is."

Drea noticed that the boy smiled quickly with his eyes, then got serious again. "Professor Snape does not like to be disturbed, and as much as he dislikes violence, I'm sure that this can be dealt with tomorrow," he began.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to be a disturbance, but I really think that I should see him now. If I see that ugly face again I'll probably curse her into the next century, and this school is already so much better than Durmstrang," she stated angrily.

"If you insist. But if he gets angry, as I'm sure he will, I'm going to assert that it was your decision."

"And I'll back you up on that. So there's really nothing to worry about. Agreed?" she asked civilly.

"You really are a strange girl."

"Aren't you a flatterer."

The boy smiled again, only this time outwardly as well. "I'm Xander, by the way."

"Xander? Hm, cool name. I take it you already know mine."

"How ever did you figure that out? I was sure that I had kept it so secret," he replied sarcastically.

"It may have been the fact that you were calling it out while chasing after me."

"Ah yes. That may have given it away. Anyhow, these are his chambers. Good luck."

"You aren't coming with me?" Drea asked.

"I think you're strong enough to handle it on your own. See you back at the Common Room."

"Don't stay up waiting for me," Drea muttered to herself as she watched Xander walk quickly back towards the Slytherin dungeons.

__

Great. Now what am I supposed to do? Knocking on the door would probably be a good first step. What am I supposed to say? 'Good evening Professor. I just thought I'd stop by to let you know that I punch Pansy Parkinson in the nose. See you tomorrow, Sir.' Drea scoffed at the idea, then sighed. _I might as well get it over with._

Drea knocked softly at door. When there was no answer, she knocked more clearly. She stood quietly, waiting, and decided that he was probably asleep. _I'm calm enough to go back now anyway, I'll come see him tomorrow like Xander suggested._

Drea turned around to go back to the dungeons, but she stopped when she heard sounds coming from Professor Snape's chambers. Turning back towards his door, she composed herself for whatever awaited her on the other side.

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So let me know what you think! Be honest, but kind. Thanks ^_^


	3. Black and Blue

Thanks for all the awesome reviews so far guys. Sorry, I'm a really slow updater, just so you know, so don't worry I didn't die or anything. Special thank-yous to Earelen (wow, that's a great review...thanks so much!) Vanyaria Darkshadow (your usage of my lines encourages me....that's great by the way!) and mysterious-mists (what does assimilation mean?...hahahaha) for reviewing this chapter. Once again, so sorry for the long wait.

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**Chapter Three – Black and Blue**

Severus entered his chambers and softly closed the door. He had gotten a terrible headache from all of the chatter in the Great Hall, and was looking forward to a long, hot shower.

Leaning against the door, he thought about the best way to get rid of the headache. Everything started to get dark and he saw yellow spots in front of his eyes, indicating to him that it was, indeed, as predicted, a migraine. He slowly stood up properly and walked into the kitchen to prepare some coffee.

He put the water on to boil, then walked into the bathroom to make a cold compress. He stood there, staring into the sink, until he heard the water boiling.

Severus walked back into the kitchen and filtered the water through the coffee. He reached into the cupboard and grabbed the sugar bowl and a large spoon. From the cupboard across the kitchen, he summoned a large, brown mug and poured the finished coffee into it.

After adding three large spoonfuls of sugar, he walked into his room and slid into a large, comfortable armchair. He put the cold cloth back onto his head, and picked up the mug. He brought the mug slowly to his lips, but misjudged the fullness of it, and burnt his tongue. Jumping more in surprise than in pain, he spilt the coffee all over his robes.

"Bloody Hell."

Severus took the cloth off of his forehead, performed the charm to clean up the mess, and then walked into the bathroom. He undressed and stepped into the shower. He just stood there for a moment, allowing the hot, rushing water to pour down his face and chest.

After a few minutes, the pounding in his head returned. He leaned against the wall of the shower, then reached down to turn it off. He grabbed a dark blue towel off of the back of the bathroom door, then walked to his bedchamber.

He was putting on his sleepwear when he heard the pounding again, only louder this time. That was when he realised that there was someone knocking at the door. He quickly threw on his outer robes and walked towards the door.

Who would be knocking at my door at 10:30? It must be another teacher, all of my Prefects know not to disturb me at night.

Severus put on a menacing snarl as he swung the door open quickly. There, in front of him, was the purple-haired girl. Severus wondered what she was doing there. _Maybe she went to the wrong door,_ he thought, but quickly dismissed it, as his chambers were the only things in that area of the castle. _A dare, perhaps?_

"Ms. Daray. What is the problem?" he asked with a growl.

"Professor Snape, sir, I'm sorry to be a bother, but I punched another student in the face and was told to come see you," she answered, lowering her eyes to the ground.

"I see. And why, may I ask, did you do this?"

"Well, I was playing my guitar in my room, minding my own business, when in walks Pansy Parkinson, yelling about all of the noise that I was making. I tell her that I'll put a silencing charm on it, and all of a sudden she starts saying stuff about my family, so I punched her in the nose."

"I see. So I assume that she was saying not-so-nice things about your family." He was eager to know from where he recognised her.

"Yes, Professor."

"I'm going to need to know what she said if I am to talk to her about it."

Drea swallowed nervously. "She called me an orphan."

Severus narrowed his eyebrows, observing the girl. "And are you?"

"No!" she stated forcefully.

"Well why would she say that you were, then?" he questioned her. The entire story wasn't making much sense, and his headache was getting worse, just trying to make sense of it.

"Professor, with all due respect, I don't really feel that talking about my family will solve the situation," Drea responded, suddenly aware that she had almost told a complete stranger about her life.

"Of course," he replied. He wasn't one to give up so easily, but he had seen the pain in her eyes when she spoke the word orphan, and he knew how painful it could be to relive a part of your life that you wished that you could forget. "Detention with myself tomorrow evening at 8:00 sharp. I have potions to prepare and organise; you can help me with the organising section. I'll speak to Pansy tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, Professor Snape." Drea stood there watching him, hoping for an indication of what to do next. She tried to read his eyes, but they were strangely blank.

"Well, be on your way then."

"Oh, right. Well, good-night Professor." Drea walked away quickly, eager to get back to the Common Room.

Well, that wasn't so hard. I sounded like a teacher's pet for most of it, but at least I didn't get cursed into the next century. Intriguing man, Professor Snape. I've only ever known three people who could make their eyes that emotionless, and they all had good reason.

Drea spoke the password to the portrait and walked quietly into the Common Room. She expected to see it empty, and was surprised to see some students sitting around, talking quietly.

Xander looked up to see which of his students were back. "Wow, you're in one piece."

"So it would seem," Drea replied.

"So what happened? Did you tell him what happened?" Xander asked

"More or less. I have detention tomorrow night, but that's all."

"Nice. By the way, this is Chase, Jadon, and Candra. Candra's in your year."

"Nice to meet you guys, I'm Drea."

"Hey, you're the one that punched Pansy in the face right?" asked Chase, obviously impressed.

"Yeah, I am," she replied.

"Good job, she deserved it. I don't know what she did to you, but after everything she's done to the younger students, she deserves a good smack once in a while," said Chase.

"Chase! You're supposed to be setting a good example!" said Xander, laughing.

"Actually, Mr Prefect, you are supposed to be setting a good example. I, on the other hand, can say and do anything I want to, because even if I do something wrong, you'll never get me in trouble."

"True," said Xander.

"That's hardly fair," said Drea. "You got me in trouble," she said, narrowing her eyebrows.

"I didn't know you before. And, to be fair, you're the one who insisted on going to see Snape tonight."

"I guess. Anyway, I'm going to bed. See you guys tomorrow."

" 'Night Drea," said Jadon and Xander.

"I'm coming too," said Candra, speaking for the first time.

The two females walked in silence for a few moments, when suddenly Candra spoke up.

"What was Durmstrang like?" she asked bluntly.

"That depends what you mean by that."

"Well, I heard that they teach the Unforgivables there," she replied modestly.

"Teaching the Unforgivables would require doing them, something that nobody could ever get away with. They did, on the other hand, have a philosophy class, during which they reinforced ideas pertaining to the Dark Lord."

"Of course, sorry."

"That's okay, a lot of people make that mistake. That's part of the reason why I left that school, there was too much Dark magic going around. You couldn't trust anyone; you always had to be wary of curses coming toward you for doing whatever to so-and-so, or talking about the other guy. It was real cut-throat."

They reached the door to the Dorm and walked in.

"Is that where you got the backbone to stand up to Malfoy?" she asked, in awe.

"The little blonde brat? No, I just have a very low tolerance for people who think that they're better than everyone else."

"Whatever it was, I'm glad you did it. He wasn't very nice to me when I started. He made fun of my braces. Called me a mudblood just cuz my mom's a muggle dentist."

"Well you sure showed him though, didn't you? I bet you have perfect teeth now, don't you?"

Candra smiled and nodded, then said goodnight and walked to her bed to get changed. Drea changed into a black tank top and purple bottoms, picked up her toothbrush, and walked into the bathroom.

She knew that she could just use a spell for her teeth, but she'd always had a thing for brushing her teeth the muggle way. Her breath always tasted better, and her teeth felt cleaner.

Drea left the bathroom, and walked down the long corridor back to her Dorm. She casually glanced into each room as she passed, expecting everyone to be asleep, as it was getting quite late.

She walked past the fourth year male room, and surprisingly, saw someone awake. She hardly had to glance twice to figure out that it was Draco, because of his blonde hair, but it was different than it had been in the Great Hall. It was falling into his eyes and it wasn't gelled back like it had been before.

He was leaned over a pad of paper, quietly sketching away. He looked almost civil, not put on and stuck up like usual. He was wearing a long, dark blue t-shirt, and black boxers_. He looks so different, being alone without other people. After all, he is a Malfoy, and everyone knows that they never show their true selves._

Drea walked into the Dorm, put her toothbrush on top of her bedside table, spelled her belongings into the drawers of another dresser, and crawled into bed. She fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

So, let me know what you think! Flames are completely acceptable too, they just make me laugh and fuel me, so keep it all coming!


	4. Wouldn't You Like To Know

Thanks for all my great reviews!! Okay...four reviews. But that's okay, it is my first. Here come the special messages:

Flora: Thanks so much, I'm glad you like it! There will be pairings, but I'm not quite sure whom I want to pair up. Ron will definitely like Drea, but they wouldn't be a good couple so that isn't going to happen. I considered Draco, but I think it's too early in the game for her to really see him in that light ... she really didn't like him in the last chapter and that can take a long time to do away with. I'm really toying with the thought of Charlie/Drea because of her interest in dragons and also the fact that Charlie comes to the school for the Triwizard Tourny. It could get interesting because Ron will like her, but then there's the age gap. Mostly, I think it will mostly be crushes in this one. Also, I'd love to tell you about the eyes, but that's something that you're going to have to wait for. Wouldn't wanna spoil the fun!

dragonwing: Thanks!! I love Drea too! Keep reading or your imagination will kill you! I'm pretty sure that nobody will guess about the parents, it's pretty screwed up.

Vanyaria Darkshadow: Haha, thanks for not flaming, glad to know you couldn't find anything to flame about! Yes, I am a very slow updater...but it's not because I'm stubborn...it's because I'm a slow writer...haha. By the way, I finished reading your journals and they're awesome!!

Earelen: Thanks for your many compliments!! Your review made me so happy! Yeah, I read the thing about teeth-brushing and it is a bit confusing...my bad. You've inspired me to keep those little nothings about people that make them real.

Brianne: Thanks bum bum! Haha, glad you're enjoying it.

* * *

Chapter Four - Wouldn't You Like To Know

Drea awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. She lay peacefully for a moment, allowing herself to wake up properly, then swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

She asked a portrait on the wall for the time, ("One quarter of an hour after six") then walked down to the bathrooms to shower.

Twenty minutes later she got out, towel-dried her hair, and pulled it into messy buns at the base of her head. She finished putting on her new school uniform, put make-up on her eyes, and walked back to her dorm.

The dorm was still quiet when she got there, so she collected her books for the morning (Transfiguration and Care of Magical Creatures) and sauntered down to the Great Hall.

Her own table was completely empty, save one first year student. The Ravenclaw table was almost full, and the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables were about a third full. Sighing, Drea sat down, quite far from the other student, as she had never liked kids, and took two pieces of toast. She smothered one with cranberry jelly, the other with cheese, and pressed them together.

Chewing silently on her sandwich, Drea watched the other students. The Ravenclaws were talking animatedly about their new schedule, the Hufflepuffs were quietly talking about Merlin knows what, and the Gryffindors just looked tired.

Three new students entered the hall and went to the Gryffindor table. The girl was talking furiously about house-elves or some such thing. She looked over a Drea, smiled, then sat down and continued to talk. The boys, Drea noticed, weren't listening at all. One of the boys, a cute red-haired boy, was looking right at her. She waved nonchalantly, and he suddenly became very interested in his schedule, although his eyes lit up like diamonds and his cheeks turned a slightly deeper shade of pink.

Drea glanced toward the door to the Great Hall, and noticed Draco, Pansy and two other boys that she didn't know walking toward the table. Pansy was talking to Draco about entering the Triwizard tournament, although he clearly wasn't paying attention. The other two boys didn't speak, as though it was their place to be there, but not to say anything.

Suddenly, hundreds of owls came soaring through the windows of the Great Hall. A large eagle owl dropped a large package in front of Draco. Drea's baby screech owl came soaring into her lap, along with its mother. It's mother, Sandy, had a large, brown envelope in its mouth, and dropped it gently onto the table.

Drea gave Sandy the last bite of her sandwich, and gave Midget, the younger owl, and an orange slice. They ate happily while she opened the envelope.

****

Drea,

How is Hogwarts? I hope you're having a good time so far. I also hope that you haven't got into trouble yet, although knowing you, you probably have, Haha. Write back once you've done some of your classes and let me know how they're going. Good Luck.

Lots of Love,

From Dad

Drea put the letter into her bag, happy that nobody, especially Pansy Parkinson, had seen it. It wasn't that she was scared of Pansy, but more that she wasn't sure if she could control herself if Pansy said anything.

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" asked Xander.

Drea jumped, causing her owls to take off quickly. She had been so lost in thought about her dad and Pansy that she hadn't noticed that Candra, Xander, Chase and Jadon had joined her. She recovered quickly though, and laughing, said,

"If I wanted you to know, I'd've said it, rather than thought it," she replied, remembering something that her dad had said to her once.

"I suppose you would have," he replied, pretending to think hard about it.

Chase punched him playfully in the shoulder, called him a moron, and then grabbed a spoonful of eggs and four pieces of toast. He ate them at breakneck speed, causing Drea, Jadon and Xander to stare.

"What are you doing that you need to eat that fast?" asked Xander.

"I hafta meet Christi before class, I haven't seen her yet," he replied, but how he managed to do it with so much food in his mouth, Drea didn't know. He threw the two leftover pieces of toast into his bag and walked out of the Great Hall. Drea could hear him start to run as soon as he left the Hall.

"Is Christi his girlfriend?" asked Drea.

"Yeah, they've been dating since 3rd year. She's in Ravenclaw though, so they don't hang out in public," answered Xander.

"That's sad," said Drea.

"If I was dating Chase, I would let everyone know," said Candra, turning slightly pink in the cheeks.

"Yeah, but if you were dating Chase, it would be socially all right because you're in Slytherin," Xander commented, completely oblivious.

"I suppose," said Candra quietly.

"This school has a lot of strange politics," said Drea.

"Yeah, it does," said Xander. "Anyhow, I have to get going, I have to show the first years where their classes are, then I should get to mine. Candra, you can show Drea her classes, right?"

"Yeah, of course," replied Candra.

"See you guys later then," he said, and Jadon got up to follow him.

"Bye," they said in unison. Candra started to giggle at this, but stopped quickly because of the look that she got from Drea.

Suddenly, Professor Snape entered the Great Hall. Normally, Drea would have hardly noticed because she was so lost in thought, but the way in which the Professor walked in was too extravagant to miss.

Drea almost started laughing at how menacing the potions Professor looked and quickly became very interested in her school bag.

"Should we go then?" asked Candra, mistaking Drea's sudden interest for eagerness to get to class.

"Yeah, sure," she replied, and followed Candra out of the Hall to their first class, Transfiguration.

Transfiguration was fairly uneventful. Drea was slightly more advanced in the class, but only technique-wise, and managed to transfigure her sunflower into an umbrella before anyone else (5 points to Slytherin), followed only by Draco and another girl that Drea didn't know.

When the class was dismissed, Drea followed Candra to their next class, Care of Magical Creatures. By the time they got outside to where the class was held, the Gryffindors were already there.

Drea saw a brown-haired girl leap back in disgust. Wondering momentarily what could possibly have been so horrifying, Drea peered into a large wooden crate. After seeing the contents, Drea herself felt a little repulsed and backed away to join Candra, who had grown accustomed to Hagrid's idea of interesting creatures, and had intelligently decided to stay back until absolutely necessary.

"On'y jus' hatched," Drea heard an extremely large man, bearing an equally large mass of hair, say proudly, "so yeh'll be able ter raise 'em yerselves! Thought we'd make a bit of a project of it!" He smiled brightly at a small group of Gryffindor students, looking for approval.

Drea, having never experienced a class of this sort, was wary, yet excited for the project. The others, however, looked disappointed and even a bit scared. A cold voice floated above the quiet muttering; a voice that, unfortunately, Drea recognized as the powerful, yet voice of Draco Malfoy.

"And why would we want to raise them? I mean, what do they do? What is the point of them?" asked Draco smugly.

You ignorant prat! Drea thought to herself. _I learned this in 2nd year!_

Haggard, however, seemed a bit stunned by the question. "Erm...well, see, tha's the lesson, Malfoy. Yer jus' feedin' 'em today. Now, yeh'll wan' ter try 'em on a few diff'rent things - I've never had 'em before, not sure what they'll go fer - I got ant eggs an' frog livers an' a bit o' grass snake - just try 'em out with a bit of each."

"We took this in 2nd year," Drea whispered to Candra. "Blast-Ended Skrewts are vegetarians. They live mainly off of grasses and leaves." Candra giggled quietly then walked over to the box to pick out a Skrewt. Drea was about to pull one of the Skrewts out of the box when the brunette shrieked.

"Eurgh, Hagrid, what's that pointy thing on it?"

"Ah, some of 'em have got stings," said Hagrid enthusiastically. "I reckon they're the males ... the females've got sorta sucker things on their bellies ... I think they might be ter suck blood.

Obviously, thought Drea curtly.

"Well, I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive," said Malfoy sarcastically. "Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting and bite all at once?"

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're no useful," a bushy-haired girl replied sharply. Drea recognized her as the girl that had smiled at her in the Great Hall. "Dragon blood's amazingly magical, but you wouldn't want a dragon for a pet, would you?"

Who wouldn't want a dragon for a pet? Drea thought seriously.

Draco made a rude gesture toward her, a gesture that Drea recognized instantly as the pureblood way of calling someone a mudblood without their knowledge. He then turned back to his Skrewt and began force-feeding it a handful of frog livers.

The rest of the class was fairly calm, save the occasional scream from someone who's Skrewt had just blasted. Drea approached Hagrid at the end of the class, gave him a couple of polite pointers about the Skrewts, then walked up to the castle for lunch.

Candra and Drea immediately spotted Jadon and Xander at the Slytherin table. They walked over to the table, sat down, and began to eat instantly.

"Where's Chase?" asked Candra suddenly.

"Christi missed him more than any of us expected," said Xander slyly, winking at Drea. "If my assumptions are correct, he's either in a bathroom somewhere or in one of the Dorms."

"Oh," was all that Candra could manage to say. Drea saw in her eyes that she was sad, maybe even with a hint of jealousy mixed in.

"Come on Candra, I need to find my Arithmancy class, and I don't want you to be late for History of Magic," Drea said urgently, causing Candra to look up in surprise.

"But Drea, there's still 25 minutes before class starts."

"I know that. I walk slower after eating," she answered lamely.

"Alright then. I'll see you guys later," Candra said, waving to Jadon and Xander from across the Great Hall where her and Drea were already leaving.

Candra turned left and walked up three flights of stairs before either of them said anything.

"Are you okay?" asked Drea carefully.

"Sure, yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You really like Chase don't you?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so," she answered, not understanding where this was going. "I mean, I've liked him since I met him in first year. Jadon was showing me around, and introduced me to him, and he said I was cute." All of a sudden, Candra started to cry. Drea, not having much experience in the girl-crying-over-boy department, felt quite awkward.

"Candra ... does, um, Chase know that you like him?" she asked, hoping to find the source for the crying.

"No!" she cried, beginning to bawl. She sat down on the stairs, head in her hands. Drea sat beside her, putting an arm around her shaking body.

"I'm sorry," Candra said after a few minutes. "I'll be okay now. Thanks for listening, I feel a lot better," she sniffed. "Now, we should get you to class. You don't want to be late with Professor Vector. He's very strict about promptness."

"Oh, Candra, I only said that to get you away from the Great Hall," Drea said sincerely.

"I know," Candra said, smiling. "You know, when I first saw you, I thought that you were going to be a stereotypical Slytherin. I'm glad you're not." She walked up the stairs to the sixth floor, turned right, and motioned to the 3rd door. "That'll be Professor Vector's room. Your class starts in ten minutes. I'll see you at dinner!"

Drea walked into the class, took a desk in the middle of the room, then went to take out her book. She pulled a large, maroon book from her bag, then realized that she had been so preoccupied with Candra that she hadn't gone to get her Arithmancy text. She got up and ran from the room, almost running into whom she assumed was Professor Vector on her way out.

She got to the Dorms in record time, grabbed her text, and then ran back up the stairs to the Arithmancy class. She was glad that the stairs hadn't decided to change; otherwise she would have been hopelessly lost. She saw the bushy-haired girl running toward the class from the opposite direction. The girl smiled pleasantly, then turned into the room. She took the desk in front of Drea's, right up in the front of the room. Professor Vector smiled slightly, commenting on how it seemed that more than one person was in a hurry. The bell rang and the class started.

Professor Vector began explaining the different sub-categories in which you can alter a spell; Drea looked around the room. The only Slytherin in the room was Draco, sitting three desks away from her, who seemed bored. Drea assumed that this was because his father was such a powerful wizard that he had already taught him at least the basics of Arithmancy. She couldn't have been more wrong.

Although the Professor had stated that he would be putting the notes on the board, the bushy-haired girl was already writing furiously. Drea smiled to herself, then began examining the other students. Several of them already looked confused, whereas others were nodding their heads in comprehension. Drea noticed that the class was made up of all the Houses, unlike any of her other classes so far. She caught Draco's eye, and, smirking, waved mockingly. Draco looked confused, but returned the wave.

Professor Vector then lit up the board with a flourish of his wand. When the light disappeared, the notes for the first 4 sub-categories were on the board.

"We'll be doing more in-depth notes further on in the year," he explained. "We will be having a test next class on the first four sub-categories and their sub-categories. We will then take notes on the other 3 sub-categories. When you are finished with these notes, please use the time to study or complete other work," he finished.

Drea, who had been writing the whole time that the Professor had been talking, was already partially done the notes. She had always been a fast writer, and within 20 minutes she had completely finished. There was still three quarters of an hour left in the class, so Drea pulled out the maroon book began the assigned reading. She was just putting the book away when a paper airplane landed on her desk.

It was off-white, swirled with lighter and darker shaded of the colour. Unlike the paper airplanes that Drea and her father had made when she was a child, this one had that actual shape of a Boeing 747. Her name was written in flourishing green writing on the side.

Drea stared at the airplane for a moment, then looked up at the Professor; he hadn't noticed a thing. Drea went to put the note in her bag, but when she touched it, it unfolded silently into a perfectly untouched piece of paper.

****

Drea,

Wow, Arithmancy huh? Who forced you into it? My father thought it would be a more useful class than History of Magic, so he used his reputation to get me pulled. How did you get out of it?

Draco

p.s. I didn't copy down the notes, I wrote this instead. Could I borrow yours?

Drea looked up from the note to see Draco staring at her, waiting for a response.

Ah, might as well humor him, she thought. She pulled out a small quill, dipped it in black ink, and wrote:

****

Draco,

Yes, Arithmancy. Nobody forced me into it. I took the OWL for the class and passed. Yes, you can borrow my notes.

Drea

p.s. Is all the hair on your body that colour?

Drea smirked at the question, carefully crumpled the paper into a ball, and chucked it across the room. At that moment, the bushy-haired girl turned around.

"Hi, I'm Hermoine."

"Drea," she answered.

"Forgive me if I'm being rude, but how in Merlin's name did you get your hair that colour?"

Drea laughed. "It's a spell I found in a book once. I like it better than dying it because there's no damage and you can undo it for special occasions if you have to."

"I thought it might have been. So, you were at Durmstrang before this?"

"Yeah, I was. I learned some of this there, but not enough to actually perform the spell."

"Did you learn the Unforgivables there?"

"Of course not," she said, furrowing her brow, "And I'm getting quite tired of people asking me that."

"Sorry," Hermoine said, bowing her head. "It's just that I've heard so much about that school and I was curious and -"

"Don't worry about it," Drea said dismissively and a lot less angry than she felt. Thankfully, a small butterfly made of paper landed on her desk at the moment.

****

Drea,

Thanks. And no. How about yours?

Draco

Drea laughed and looked up at Draco, who winked in return. She scribbled a response in the corner of her notes.

****

Draco,

Wouldn't you like to know?

Drea

The class was dismissed before Drea could rip off the corner and send it back. She packed up her books, put them in her bag and walked over to Draco.

"Here are the notes you asked for," she said, handing them to him. She left the room before he had a chance to say anything and walked down to the Great Hall.

* * *

In the Next Chapter:

Draco turns into the Great Bouncing Ferret! **The Long Awaited Detention With Snape! **Draco's POV! 

Let me know what you think!

By the way, any of you sickos/pervs (coughBriannecough) who thought that Christi and Chase were doing nasty things are wrong! Well...kinda. They were just making out... just thought that I'd clarify that.


	5. A Name and A Reputation

Thank you to me whole TWO reviewers ... yes, it's sad, but they were good reviews, I suppose.

Thanks **Mem**, and I honestly wouldn't know how good that is, I just picked something weird. BTW Everyone has lives, but unlike some fics, I just show them, because without it, what kind of a fic is it, anyways?

Thanks to **Sage and Snape** for your wonderful review. By the way ... UPDATE IT'S DRIVING ME MAD!! I KNOW YOU WERE AWAY BUT GEEZ! Okay I should hardly talk... but please, do update soon, on both stories! Peace out!

* * *

Chapter Five - A Name and A Reputation

Drea walked into the Great Hall, found Candra, Xander, Chase and Jadon at the table, and sat down with them. They spoke momentarily about their classes, but where interrupted buy the deep yet cold voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Weasley! Hey, Weasley!" he called across the Hall.

Hermione, along with the cute redhead and a well-built raven-haired boy, turned around to face him.

"What?" asked the redhead shortly.

"Your dad's in the paper Weasley! Listen to this!

"FURTHUR MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

"It seems as though the Ministry of Magic's troubles are not yet at an end, _writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent._ Recently under fire for it's poor crowd control at the Quiddich World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office."

Draco looked up. "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley, it's almost as though he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?"

Everyone in the Great Hall was listening now, and Draco continued loudly.

"Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved with a tussle with several Muggle law-keeps ('policemen') over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from he Ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr Moody's heavily guarded house, that Mr Moody had once again raised a false alarm. Mr Weasley was forced to modify several memories before he could escape from the policemen, but refused to answer _Daily Prophet_ questions about why he had involved the Ministry in such an undignified and potentially embarrassing scene.

"And there's a picture, Weasley!" said Malfoy, flipping the paper over and holding it up. "A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

"Get stuffed, Malfoy," said the raven-haired boy. "C'mon, Ron ..."

"Oh yeah, you were staying with them this summer, weren't you, Potter?" sneered Draco. "So tell me, is his mother really that porky, or is it just the picture?"

"You know your mother, Malfoy?" asked the raven-haired boy, whom Drea had just realized was Harry Potter. He grabbed onto the back of the redhead's robes, then continued. "That expression she's got, like she's got dung under her nose? Has she always looked like that, or is it just because you were with her?"

Draco's face went pink and his eyes narrowed in anger. "Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter," he threatened.

"Keep your fat mouth shut, then," said Harry, turning away.

BANG!

Several people around Drea screamed. She saw something white fly past Harry's face, but was distracted by another loud BANG.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!" Drea heard the rough voice of Professor Moody call out.

Drea looked back toward Harry and Draco, but Draco was nowhere to be found. Instead, Drea noticed that Professor Moody's wand was pointing to a white ferret, which had definitely not been there before.

Silence filled the Great Hall; nobody but Moody moved a muscle, and he turned to look at Harry. "Did he get you?" he asked in a low voice.

"No," said Harry, "missed."

"LEAVE IT!" Moody shouted.

"Leave - what?" asked Harry.

"Not you - him!" Moody growled, pointing to Crabbe, one of Draco's 'bodyguards' as Drea came to think of them.

Draco the amazing ferret boy scurried across the Great Hall, but Moody caught him with his magical eye. "I don't think so!" he cried, pointing his wand at the ferret again. It flew into the air, then fell with a smack on to the floor. This continued while Moody said. "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back's turned. Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do ... Never do that again."

"Professor Moody!" shrieked the unmistakable voice of Professor McGonagall.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," said Moody calmly.

"What - what are you doing?"

"Teaching."

"Teach- Moody, is that a student?" she screamed, spilling her books.

"Yep."

"No!" she cried, and suddenly Draco re-appeared on the floor, red in the face, tears in his eyes. Drea could tell that he was crying more out of shame and embarrassment than out of pain. He got to his feet, wincing, and glanced at Drea. She gave him a dirty look, then turned and walked out of the Great Hall. She had had enough of his changing personalities.

* * *

Draco sat on the floor of the Great Hall, scanning the crowd for Drea. He found her standing by the mudblood girl, Candy or something rather. He tried to smile a bit, hoping to appear unfazed, but instead of the comforting look that he had dared to hope for, he received a very nasty glare and watched as she turned and stormed out of the Great Hall.

"- detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of house!"

"I'll do that then," replied Moody, his magical eye staring at Draco, as though piercing through his very soul.

"He'll be out of here as soon as my father hears abou-" Draco muttered to himself, but was interrupted by Moody.

"Oh yeah," said Moody to Draco alone. "Well I know your father of old, boy ... you tell him Moody's keeping a close eye on his son ... you tell him that from me ... now, your Head of house'll be Snape, will it?"

"Yes," said Draco, resenting the man more than the Dark Lord himself.

"Another old friend," growled Moody. "I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape ... come on, you."

Moody grabbed Draco's upper arm and dragged him off to the dungeons.

My father'll certainly have something to say about this, he thought to himself. _He's a weak, groveling, poor excuse for a father, but he does have his uses. He'll take my side of it, as always. Snape will be harder to convince; he's always been harder on me. As though it's my fault that -_

A loud pounding on Snape's door interrupted Draco's thoughts.

Draco heard the man slide his chair away from his desk, then counted out the thirteen steps that it took him to reach the door. It always took the man thirteen steps. Draco knew that it wasn't intentional, but the Professor always seemed to take thirteen steps, no matter where he was in the room. If he was far away, he took larger steps; closer to the door meant smaller steps.

Once again, Draco's thought were interrupted, but this time it was by the cross-looking man on the other side of the doorframe. He could tell by his expression that the Professor had been grading the first year potions.

* * *

Severus Snape sat at his desk, grading the first year potions. He had given out several Dreadfuls, along with the occasional Poor. He was about to go to the Great Hall for something to eat, hoping that when he came back, the task wouldn't seem as dull, when there was a loud knock on the door.

Severus sighed loudly to himself, wondering what anyone could possibly need at this time, then pushed his chair away from his desk, stood up, walked to the door ...

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen!

... and opened it. He had had to take smaller steps in the end, but it was one of his many quirks that nobody knew about. He wondered if anybody had caught on yet, but seriously doubted it.

On the other side Severus found a triumphant looking Moody and a less-than-proud Draco. He gave the boy a disapproving, questioning look. After a few moments of contemplation, he finally spoke up.

"Well, are you going to tell me what the problem is, or are we going to stand here wasting time trying to figure one another out?"

"Ah, good to see you too, Snape," Moody said with a crooked smile. Severus noted that this was a very strange thing to see. "You haven't changed a bit."

"Thank you for that observation, Moody," Severus said with a sneer. "Now, what is the problem?" Severus asked, narrowing his eyebrows in disgust. Moody had always been hard to get along with, not only because of his natural eccentricity, but also because he knew how to get to the Professor.

"Mr Malfoy here attacked another student, while his back was turned, I might add," Moody replied, grinning stupidly, as though he had accomplished a major feat by forming the sentence correctly. Severus gave Draco his best scowl, the returned his attention to Moody.

"Surely you are capable or handling such a situation on your own, Professor," Severus said, amused.

"I tried," Moody said, smirking (also a strange thing to see), "but Professor McGonagall didn't seem to approve of my ... erm ... methods," he finished, chuckling to himself.

"I see," Severus answered, drawing out the two syllables. "I'll take care of him, Moody."

Severus expected Moody to take the hint and leave the room, but he stayed put.

"You may leave now, Professor Moody," Severus said tersely.

"See you around, Snape," he responded darkly, leaving the room and walking back toward the Great Hall.

* * *

Draco listened to the clunk, clunk, clunk of Moody's fake leg until he could hear it no more. He glanced up at the Professor, unsure of what his reaction would be. Professor Snape only sighed, shaking his head at him, then walked back to his desk.

Professor Snape put his head in his hands, then looked up and Draco. Raising an eyebrow, then lowering it quickly, the Potion's master said, callously, "Close the door, Mr Malfoy."

Feeling stupid, and ashamed that he had failed to remember the one thing that Snape always asked him to do, Draco quickly closed the door.

"Sit down," said Snape, not glancing up.

"Yes, sir," answered Draco.

After several minutes of silence (or so it felt to Draco), Snape looked up at him. "Not that it much matters, but whom did you attack, Mr Malfoy?"

Draco hated it when the Professor called him Mr Malfoy, and Snape knew it. He only used that voice with Draco when he had really tried the older man's patience.

"Potter," answered Draco, short and angrily.

"And why, Mr Malfoy, did you do this?"

"I was simply reading Weasley an article from the Daily Prophet, the one about his father, when suddenly Potter started insulting my mother and-"

"Mr Malfoy, we both know that, as much as we hate Potter and Weasley, they would not start verbally abusing you without due cause. Think of it as a lack of backbone, if you must, but it is true. I have another detention tonight at 8 o'clock, therefore will not be able to attend to you as I should, but I trust that you will be able to behave yourself. There are several cauldrons in the other room that need cleaning. You can clean those out, and then you may leave."

"Yes, Professor," Draco answered sullenly, then walked into the spare room.

Draco stopped halfway through the doorway to stare in shock at the mess in front of him. _Even Longbottom never created this much trouble,_ he thought to himself. There were twelve cauldrons in the room, several still containing unknown liquid. Draco performed a complex spell that Snape had taught him years ago to solve that problem, but there were still seven cauldrons left, each one with a different colour of potion burnt onto the bottom.

Draco first tried several spells to rid himself of the mess, but none prevailed. Next, he tried pouring hot water and a special cleanser into the cauldrons, which worked to a certain degree, but took him a very long time. After an hour he realized that the coloured potion was heaped on in layers, and he had only finished one cauldron and two layers on the next.

* * *

Severus rubbed his temples gently, frustrated that, yet again, he wasn't going to get a chance to eat. He had missed the dinner meal because of an unfortunate encounter with Professor Trelawny, which had caused him to visit the hospital wing, as well as losing his appetite.

Shuddering at the memory of the encounter, Severus returned his thoughts to Draco. _It's not the talent that he lacks,_ he thought to himself, _but his attitude is really becoming a problem. The older he gets, the harder it is for him to keep his mouth shut._

Sighing, Severus returned to grading the first year potions. His stomach was becoming increasingly temperamental, what with not being fed since breakfast. Severus remembered that he still had half a sandwich in his private chambers from the previous evening, and 'Accio'ed it into the room.

Suddenly, Severus heard a scream in the hall. He glanced at the clock, which read 7:48, and assumed that it had been Ms Daray, seeing the sandwich flying through the air. When she still hadn't entered the room at 7:53, Severus went out to see who had screamed. He expected to search a bit further than just outside his door, but was surprised to see Ms Daray exactly there.

"Ms Daray, was that you who screamed just a minute ago?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes sir, sorry if I disturbed you. I saw a sandwich flying through the air and it surprised me. It took a moment before I realized that it was a spell," Ms Daray replied quickly, as though afraid that she had offended him in some way.

"I see. And why are you not in my class?"

"Oh, you asked me to be here at 8 o'clock, and I was early, so I decided to wait outside so that I wouldn't bother you."

"Well, I've given up on the first year potions for the evening, so you might as well come in now, Ms Daray," Severus said witha bit of humor, although he was certain that she would miss it. He was wrong; to his surprise, she smiled slightly, nodded in understanding, and walked into the room. She placed her school bag on the floor and took a seat in her usual desk.

Severus gazed at her, then walked back to his desk. Without looking up he said, "You will organize the ingredient shelves over on the right side of the room. There are diagrams above each shelf to indicate where each ingredient should go." He waited for a reaction, but Ms Daray simply nodded and set to work. _She certainly is a strange one,_ Severus thought to himself.

About twenty minutes later, Draco came into the room. "Professor," he asked, "would it be alright if I used the fires to boil the water in the cauldrons. I think it might help it to loosen up."

Severus pondered the statement for a fraction of a moment, then replied. "I don't see any reason why not. If you believe that it will help, do it."

Severus wasn't about to give out answers to the boy, he needed to learn them on his own. _If only the boy would do his research, he would have learned by now that a simple mixture of -_

A glance in the general direction of Ms Daray showed that she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure whether she should interrupt or not.

"Ms Daray? Did you have something to add?"

"I was just going to suggest that Draco add baking powder to the water. It is slightly abrasive and is very effective in the removal of burnt ingredients." Blushing, she added, "I had to use it a lot when I was first starting. Of course, you have to keep in mind that birch bark, tail of newt, purple moss and groundfire mushrooms aren't in the potion to be removed."

Severus stared at the girl for a few moments, trying to figure out where she got the courage to speak to him, during a detention, of such things. It wasn't that she did anything wrong, more the shock of someone suggesting something to him.

"You forgot Bulgarius plant," he said matter-of-factly.

Ms Daray's eyes began to water, and she turned away quickly. "Of course, sir, I should have never suggested it. It was a dumb idea anyway. Of course you would know how to remove potion, you are the Potion's master, after all, writer of 16 essays, 12 articles and the finder of the 13 uses of Skrewt."

Severus stared at her, silently wondering how she knew so much about him. True, he had written 14 articles, and 17 essays, but they had been very recent. He noticed that her voice began to crack at the end of her sentence.

"I should be removing points for that lack of knowledge."  
"Yes sir, I understand."

"However, you did manage to name the four most lethal and common ingredients. Five points to Slytherin."

Severus couldn't believe what he had just done. He had just given out points during a detention.

* * *

Drea could not believe what had just happened. She had just received points during a detention with the most hated man in the school. She had only been in the school for two days, and already she knew that he was widely disliked by most.

"Thank you, Professor," she managed to mutter before turning around to finish the shelves.

Twenty minutes later she heard the silky voice of Professor Snape telling Draco that he could leave. Drea had totally forgotten that he was there, and was presently bending over to reach the bottom shelves.

She stood up, embarrassed, just in time to catch Draco looking at her as he left. She felt her cheeks going pink, and turned around, hoping that Professor Snape hadn't seen.

Another half-hour later, Drea had finally finished the shelves. She went up to the Professor's desk, and politely asked, "What would you like me to do now, sir?"

"Take a seat, Ms Daray," the Professor responded, looking deadly serious now. "I have some questions that I need to ask you about Ms Parkinsons comments."

"But Professor, you said that we didn't nee-"

"I let you off yesterday because I could see that you were hurt," he said kindly. "Now that you have calmed down, I am going to have to hear the whole story behind what she said."

Drea took a deep breath. She had never in her life told anyone about her parents and Demetri, but the Professor seemed strangely forward. She took another deep breath, hoping to block off her eyes and seal in the pain.

"When I was two years old, my father left my mother and me to fend for ourselves. They had never been married, therefore it was quite easy for him to leave.

"At age seven, my mother met a new man, Demetri, who took me in and cared for me like his own. He did everything for me that a father should do, therefore I consider him to be my real dad.

"When I turned thirteen, my mother deserted me and Demetri to run off with some guy, I never did find out who. Demetri's raised me ever since."

There was moment of silence, during which Drea tried to come up with a better reason for Pansy calling her an orphan. As an after-thought, she added, "I don't really have a legal guardian. Demetri is working on it, but I suppose that would be why Pansy called me an orphan."

* * *

Severus was in shock. He could never have imagined in his life someone leaving a child that young. _And thriteen years old is hardly an appropriate age for a young woman to be left without a female role model._ Images that he would have rather long forgotten flooded his memory; his father beating him, beating hiss mother, leaving them, not coming home for weeks. _But at least I had my mother to take care of me. Both her parents left this girl. I can't imagine what it must have bee-_

"Er ... Professor?"

"What did you say your parents' names were?" he asked suddenly, remembering that he had initially recognized her.

"Trevor Harrow and Dorothy Daray," she replied uncertainly.

Trevor and Dorothy! They're well renowned Death Eaters! I wonder how much this girl knows about this.

"Thank you for being honest with me, Ms Daray," said Severus, hoping that his eyes hadn't given him away. He had a slight tendancy to allow them to do that around students. "You are dismissed. You have learned your lesson on striking people, then?"

"Yes, sir, I'm really sorry about that. It won't happen again."

But Severus never ended up answering her, for he was lost in thought about her parents.

* * *

Drea walked out of the room, carrying her bag over one shoulder. As soon as she was out of the Professor's sight range, she began to cry. She wasn't bawling, but small streams of tears dripped down her face. She took a few minutes to recover, then began to walk down to the Dorms.

When she arrived in the Common Room, Xander, Chase and Draco were there. Draco was reading a book away from the other two, and Drea took a seat in a large, forest green chair. She considered saying hello to Draco, but then she remembered how he had acted in the Great Hall, and decided that he didn't' deserve to be spoken to.

"You're alive," said the friendly, taunting voice of Xander.

"So it would seem," Drea replied dryly, noticing too late that it had been kind of rude.

"How was it?" Chase asked.

"Actually, it wasn't near as bad as you guys said that it would be," she replied nonchalantly.

"Malfoy said that you actually got points," said Chase incredulously.

"Yeah, I did," said Drea, looking over at Draco, who was now studying his book more closely than ever.

"I never saw you as the suck-up kind," teased Chase.

"There's a lot about me you don't know," Drea replied seductively, although in a way, it was true.

Chase pretended to swoon, then said, "Back off! I'm taken," while forming a cross out of his fingers.

Xander stared curiously while Drea retorted with a sly, "So I heard."

Chase began to laugh, then noticed the look from Xander. "I saw it in a movie once, okay?" he explained.

"Whatever," replied Xander, who had no idea what a movie was.

"I'm off though, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"G'Night Sleepyhead," said Chase.

"'Night Drea," said Xander.

"Good night, Draco," said Drea at the last minute. She received a very strange look from the two other boys.

"Good night, Drea," he replied. She received an even stranger look from the other two.

"_Whatever" _she muttered to herself, then walked to the bathroom. She 'accio'ed the things that she needed to get ready, cleaned herself up, then walked back down the hallway. On the way, she bumped into something large, flat and semi-hard. She looked up to realize that the hard, flat surface had been Draco's abs.

There was an awkward silence between the two, during which Drea was trying to figure out what Draco wanted.

"You left your bag in the Common Room," Draco eventually said.

"Oh, thanks," Drea replied lamely. "Did you get my note?" she asked, hoping to make him laugh.

"Yes, I did," he replied. "And yes, I would."

"You're sick," she said, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

"Yeah, I am, but you have to remember that you started it."

"True," said Drea, causing a pause in the conversation. Drea considered asking Draco about why he'd been such a jerk in the Great Hall, but instead asked, "Did you finish with my notes?"

"Yeah, they're in my room. I'll get them for you."

Drea followed Draco down the hall to his room, although she already knew where it was. Draco went inside to find the notes, which he had shoved under his bed, and Drea looked around the room. She noticed a **VERY** attractive boy sleeping on top of his bed with nothing but his boxer shorts on.

"Here they are," Draco said, handing her the notes. They were slightly more wrinkled than when Drea had given them to him, but she didn't mind. She was more interested in the boy on the bed.

"Thanks. Who's he? I haven't met him yet," she asked, hoping to sound casual.

"That's Blaise. He's a prat though, all he cares about are legs and getting his over."

"Oh," Drea replied, not really knowing what that meant, but assuming that it was bad. "Well, I should get to bed. See you tomorrow Draco.

"Sleep well, Drea."

* * *

Draco watched Drea walk into her room, then went back into his own. _Sleep well? What was I thinking? Yes Draco, that is definitely going to get her to like you,_ he thought to himself angrily. He slipped off his clothes, pulled on red boxers and a black t-shirt, and crawled into bed. It was pointless, of course, as he couldn't get Drea off his mind. She had always called him by his first name, never by his last. It made him feel as though she thought of him as a person, not just a name and a reputation. Of course, there had been the look in the Great Hall, but she's said good night and joked around with him, had she not?

Thoughts like these ran though Draco's head until, around 3:30, he finally dropped off.

* * *

There! Done! Truth be told, I've actually wrote this whole stupid chapter a month ago, but then I accidentally deleted it while writing chapter 6, so I had to re-write it. Personally, I liked it better the first time, but I was so eager to get it over with that I kinda slacked off in bits. Anywhos, let me know what you think. THANKS!! R&R PLEASE. Even if you just write "Hey, I read it" That'd be great 


	6. Pitching a Tent

THIS CHAPTER IS RATED R. YOU CAN SKIP IT WITHOUT MISSING ANYTHING. PLEASE DO IF YOU FEEL THE NEED TO.

**Captain-Ammie**: I'm glad you liked it!

**PPP ( ):** Glad I've gotcha interested!

**Earelen:** Thanks for the comment on the skrewts. I had no idea, I'll mention that! Ron can't really like Drea yet, because he doesn't really know her, but he does find her quite attractive. More may come, but it's difficult to say. Personally, I think it would be quite interesting if Drea falls for Charlie during the Triwizard Tourny, but we'll just have to see. Hermoine does end up in a catfight, but not over who you think. Glad you liked her line to Draco.

Okay, now on to review number two! I'm glad that you liked Draco thinking of Candra as a Mudblood. I figured that, despite his loyalty to his own house, he would still put blood above it all. Glad that you didn't find Snape's 13 steps too OOC. I debated on whether to leave it in or not, but decided that it's not really like it's important to the story, more a touch of bizarreness to Sev's character, which I find quite humorous.

For the record, I don't really approve of swearing and stuff, but this chapter required a bit of that. It also contains several sexual references, and is rated R. If that sort of stuff offends you, you can skip this chapter. At the beginning of the next one, I'll do a recap, but you honestly aren't missing anything but a bit of sick humor.

* * *

**Chapter Six - Pitching a Tent**

Drea awoke disturbed. She had just had a dream, in which three people were fighting, only over what she couldn't remember. She could only remember that she was somehow a part of it, although she had been floating over the whole thing. She quickly brushed it off, not daring to try to make sense of it, and went about her normal morning routine.

She walked into the Great Hall, carrying her books for the morning (Runes and Herbology). She was surprised to see Draco sitting at the Slytherin table without his two personal bodyguards. Instead, he was sitting with Blaise. Drea decided to be bold and sit with them.

She took the seat to the right of Draco, giving her a full frontal of Blaise. _Yummy,_ she thought to herself.

"Phwoah," muttered Blaise to himself. Drea wasn't sure what that meant, but she hoped that it was something good. He was now looking her up and down. Drea noticed that she was doing the same to him and busied herself with a piece of toast.

"Don't pitch a tent over it," replied Draco, glaring at Blaise. Drea had no idea what they were talking about it and ignored the comment.

"Sleep well, Draco?" she asked pleasantly, wishing that she could think of something more interesting to say. She glanced at Blaise, who raised an eyebrow.

"Not so much," he answered. "And you?"

"I had a strange dream, but the sleep itself was fine." She hoped that she didn't sound as stupid as she felt, but Blaise had not dropped his gaze from her and she was feeling quite self-conscious. "Do you think you could help me find my Runes class? I'm not sure where it is and -"

"Drea!" called a familiar voice. She looked up to see Xander waving to her from the other end of the table. She silently cursed, then quickly said, "I've got to go. See you in Herbology."

Drea picked up her books and walked calmly over to where Xander was sitting with Chase.

"So what's going on with you and Draco?" Chase asked.

"Nothing, why do you ask?" she said sincerely.

"He never calls anyone by their first name, except for Pansy, and everyone knows that he only does that because she threatened to beat him up if he didn't."

"I never knew any different. Do you guys know where Runes is?" she asked changing the subject.

* * *

"What a piece o' skirt," Blaise commented, watching Drea walk away.

"Shove it," replied Draco.

"I'm putting that in my wank-bank," said Blaise, ignoring Draco. At least, Draco thought that he was ignoring him. In truth, Blaise continued mostly to annoy Draco. Blaise did find her quite attractive himself, but Draco had just admitted to liking the girl, and Blaise liked to bother him about girls.

"Naff off."

"That's worth a squirt, that's for sure."

"You don't even know her," said Draco, thoroughly annoyed. He knew that Blaise quite often did this just to bother him, but this time he looked genuinely interested.

"So? I bet I could pull her before you could," answered Blaise, quite full of himself.

"Could not," said Draco defiantly, narrowing his eyebrows. He was normally quite fond of Blaise, but he could be a real jerk-off sometimes.

"Prove it."

"You're so jumped up on yourself. You're like a dog with two dicks!" Draco said angrily before standing up and leaving the Great Hall for Divination.

"I was just fooling around," said Blaise to himself, upset that he had made his only real friend so mad.

* * *

Drea watched Draco storm out of the Great Hall, then turned back to her friends. Summoning her courage, Drea finally asked the question that had been on her mind.

"What does 'pitch a tent' mean? I mean, I know what a tent is and stuff, but what else does it mean?"

Chase and Xander began to laugh so hard that they almost fell off of the bench. They received a very scornful look from Professor Snape, which in itself calmed them down.

"Use it in context," tried Chase, eager to find out what the person had said to make Drea wonder.

"Draco said, 'Don't pitch a tent over it,' to Blaise."

This brought on a new fit of laughter from the two. When Xander finally caught his breath, he answered, "It means 'Don't get an erection over it," then burst into laughter again.

Drea blushed from embarrassment, suddenly realizing what, or in this case, who, Blaise was talking about when he had said 'Phwoah'. He had been talking about her. She assumed, correctly, that it was some sort of British expression similar to 'Daaaaaaaaamn'.

"Why did he say that?" asked Chase.

"I don't know!" said Drea angrily, furrowing her brow. She did know, but was too embarrassed to talk about it.

"He was checking you out, wasn't he?" exclaimed Xander.

"How should I know!?" answered Drea.

"He was! I know because I caught him. That's why I called you over. Blaise is well known for being a player, and I didn't want him harassing you too much," Xander said seriously. "What else did he say to you?"

"I didn't hear anything else. I had to leave because you called me. Thanks though."

"Not a problem. You'd do best to stay away from him, unless you want to be used."

"Alright. Anyway, I've got to go find my class. See you guys later."

"Bye," they both said.

Drea walked quickly from the Great Hall, careful not to look back. She wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or insulted by the way that Blaise had acted. She was glad that she hadn't caught on while he was there.

* * *

You can review if you like, but really, the next chapter is just the other part of this one, so don't feel obliged or anything. I personally found this chapter hilarious, but if it offended you or whatever, I'm sorry. Really, I am, and I hope that I didn't lose any readers over it! 


	7. Understanding

Hokay, so basically what happened in the last chapter was that Blaise was totally hitting on Drea, but Drea didn't really get it because it was British. Then Xander called her away because Blaise is a jerk and he didn't want him hurting her, and Draco and Blaise had a fight. Blaise was joking around about Drea because he knew that Draco liked her, but Draco got really mad and left the Great Hall. Drea learned a bit of British slang.

Excerpt from the last chapter: Drea awoke disturbed. She had just had a dream, in which three people were fighting, only over what she couldn't remember. She could only remember that she was somehow a part of it, although she had been floating over the whole thing. She quickly brushed it off, not daring to try to make sense of it, and went about her normal morning routine.

That is how the chapter begun. The end of the chapter is posted as the beginning of this one. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Seven -

"... You'd do best to stay away from him, unless you want to be used," Xander said.

"Alright. Anyway, I've got to go find my class. See you guys later."

"Bye," they both said.

Drea walked quickly from the Great Hall, careful not to look back. She wasn't sure whether she should be flattered or insulted by the way that Blaise had acted. She was glad that she hadn't caught on while he was there.

She turned to the right, walked up a few flights of stairs, the suddenly realized that she had no idea where she was going. She started walking back down, but stairs decided to change while she was on them. Now she was truly lost, and had no idea what she was going to do.

She debated asking one of the other students to help her find her class, but saw the looks that she was being given (either disgusted looks or disgusting looks), and decided against it. She decided on a direction, hoping to find a teacher somewhere.

Still thinking about Blaise and not really paying attention to where she was going, Drea turned a corner and ran into someone. She looked up to see the amused but somewhat angry face of Draco Malfoy. She hoped that he wasn't angry with her, but remembered how he had stormed out of the Great Hall and decided that it wasn't her fault that he was annoyed.

"Is it just me, or do you enjoy running into people?" asked Draco, smirking.

"It's just you," she replied as seriously as she could manage, glad that he was joking around with her.

"Hm, that's funny, because I distinctly remember you running into me yesterday."

"I told you, it's only you," she said, laughing.

"I'm flattered," he answered, all the anger now gone from his eyes.

"As you should be. Could you show me where Ancient Runes is?"

"It's on the second floor, how did you wind up here?" he asked, smirking.

"I was distracted," she answered. "So, how come you didn't sleep well?" she asked, desperate for conversation. It seemed that she was always at a loss for what to say to him, but once they got the conversation going, she couldn't stop. Draco raised an eyebrow, so Drea reminded explained. "You said in the Great Hall that you didn't sleep very good last night.

"Oh, yeah, I was just thinking about different things and had a hard time getting off."

"Getting off, huh?" Drea asked, smirking.

"To sleep!" Draco exclaimed, a horrified look on his face.

"Sure," Drea said, winking to let him know that she was joking. Due to the bizarre look on Draco's face, Drea began to laugh. It was a cross between his previous expression and newfound relief, as though he couldn't decide whether she believed him or not.

"Right," Draco said, calming down.

"So what happened with you and Blaise? You looked pretty angry when you left the Great Hall."

"He was being a wide-o," Draco said, then realized that Drea, not understanding British slang, or rather, Scottish slang in this case, would have no idea what it meant, but didn't know another word for it, so clarified. "He was saying nasty things about you and it ticked me off," he said, hoping that she would understand.

Drea raised an eyebrow. "What did he say?" she asked, curious about why it had offended him so much.

It was Draco's turn to raise an eyebrow. He had expected Drea to be angry with Blaise, but instead, she seemed interested. "He was talking about how you'd be a good lay and how he could pull you in and things like that."

Drea didn't know what pull meant, but judging by the fact that Blaise had decided that she'd be a good lay without even speaking to her, she decided that he was too shallow for her interests. Still, she was strangely flattered that one so obviously attractive thought the same of her, and couldn't get over the butterflies in her stomach.

"How would he know if I'm a good lay or not?" she asked, trying her best to sound irritated.

"Exactly. I don't really care if he talks about other people that way, but when he does it about people I care about, I really just want to..." _Merlin's balls! I actually just said that!_

"Punch him in the face?" Drea offered, not daring to analyze what Draco had just said.

"Yeah, something like that," Draco replied, overjoyed that Drea had not caught what he had just said. "Well, here's your class. I have about 2 minutes to walk up 5 flights of stairs, so I'll see you in Herbology."

"Yeah, see ya. Thanks, by the way!" Drea called, but Draco was already at the end of the hallway and didn't hear her.

* * *

Sixteen pages of notes later, Drea finally walked out of Ancient Runes. It wasn't the notes that were so bad, but more the fact that Hermoine had been talking to her about joining spew or some thing like that, and she'd barely managed to copy them all down. It appeared as though she would be spending her evening re-writing the last 3 pages, due to the fact that she had had to race through them, as well as any other homework that she might be getting.

Drea managed to find her own way to Herbology, but then again it wasn't so tough, because she had seen the sage-house from Hagrid's cabin.

As Drea approached the rest of her class, she saw Draco talking to Candra. At first glance, she thought that they were having a friendly conversation, due to the pride in Draco's eyes, but when she looked at Candra she saw fear and the familiar look of tears ready to spill down her cheeks, and realized that Draco was putting her down. Worse than that, he was proud of himself.

Approaching more quickly now, Drea caught traces of 'filthy mudblood' and 'disgrace' being muttered. Calming down her own urge to smack the blond upside the head, Drea quickened her pace again.

"Hey Drea," Draco said, turning from Candra.

"What the hell is your problem?" Drea demanded, furious.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, furrowing his brow. He'd never seen Drea so angry before.

"What the hell do you think I mean!" Drea yelled.

Draco realized that he would have to say something Malfoy-ish, due to the fact that there were so many people around; he could iron out the wrinkles with Drea later. He regained composure and raised an eyebrow. "Answering a question with a question? I thought you were smarter than that, Drea." Draco almost broke into a cold sweat from the glare that he received. It would have made the Potions maser proud.

"Let's go, Candra," Drea said to the smaller girl. She walked into the sage-house, trailed by a shocked Candra. The rest of the Slytherins, and the few Ravenclaw students who weren't already in the class, stared after her. The bell sounded, pulling them out of their stunned silence. They walked into the class, talking almost as loudly as the whole of Durmstrang the day before Christmas holidays. Last to saunter in was Draco Malfoy, looking confident outwardly, but Drea could see that he was confused, angry, and … sad. Drea cocked her head questioningly, but was too angry to wonder for long.

"Are you okay?" she asked Candra.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she answered. "I can't believe you did that! Xander said that he thought you had the hots for …" Candra dropped off suddenly.

"Firstly, I didn't have the hots for Draco, and even if I had've, I still would've stuck up for you. Nobody has the right to treat anyone like that. I can't believe that I ever thought that I could have been friends with him."

"Ms. Daray," a plump woman at the front of the room called.

"Present?" Drea answered.

The woman smiled pleasantly. "Can you tell me the name of this plant?"

"Sorry, Miss, but I'm not really sure what that is."

The woman smiled again, and nodded, moving on to ask another student. Drea zoned her out and shot daggers at the back of Draco's head. She was seething, but didn't want to talk to Candra about it, lest she sound obsessive. She couldn't really explain why, but she couldn't get over the fact that she had once wanted to be friends with this boy. She knew one thing for sure; she would never again try to be friends with someone. People were untrustworthy, and she couldn't risk sharing anything. The wrong bit of information to the wrong person, and it could be the end of Demetri.

Draco turned around in his seat, saw her staring at him, and risked a wink. She flipped him the bird, then continued staring. He finally became uncomfortable, and turned to face the front.

The class finally ended, with Drea having learned nothing and having lost none of her anger. Candra was no less confused, and Draco was no less aggravated. Nobody had ever treated him like that, and for once, he almost felt bad. Not for the way he had treated the mudblood girl, of course, but for the fact that Drea was angry with him. He decided to confront the problem head on. Drea saw him approaching, and turned into a desolate hall of the school, but he followed her in, taking advantage of the fact that she was alone and had no idea where she was headed.

"Drea! Wait!" he called at her, once he was sure that nobody could hear, nor see them.

"How about no," she responded.

"Drea!" he tried again, desperate to at least get her to listen. To his surprise, she stopped and turned to face him.

"What?" she demanded in a voice so low that it was almost a whisper.

"What are you so upset about?" he asked.

"A question with a question? Draco, I thought you were smarter than that," she said mockingly.

"Oh, is that what you're angry about? I figured you would know that I was -"

"That isn't what I'm upset about," she answered coldly. "I'm upset about the fact that I almost befriended a guy who has to put people down to make himself feel better."

"I do not. Besides, that was one time," Draco rebutted pitifully.

"Right, because the Great Hall didn't count!"

"What are you going off about?" Draco practically screamed.

"With that redhead? Or does that not count because he's a pureblood?"

"Blood had nothing to do with that."

"Obviously."

"Weasley and I have our reasons."

"I'm sure."

"We do! The first time I me-"

"I don't care what your excuses are, Draco, I'm never going to forgive you for it."

"I didn't ask you to forgive me."

"Why are you here then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted you to understand."

* * *

Yeah, so not my longest chapter, but not my shortest either. DADA lessons next, and maybe a little chat with Snapie. Review please, my dears! 


	8. Jealousy and Confrontation

- Messages to my reviewers -

Brianne - Never call me that again. On a lighter note, thanks for always keeping interested and telling me when it sucks, (and when it's pretty damn amazing too, lol.) Love ya lots!

Earelen - Yeah, I agree Drea's awesome. The dance gets worse in chapter nine, but you'll have to wait for that one, although I did write 2500 words in 2 hours, so it's coming along fairly well. For the meanwhile, I hope this keeps you occupied. I hope you find the new method in which Drea finds out that Draco's jealous, I felt that the old one was too OOC. Sorry it took so long to update, stuff started happening in my life and I just couldn't bring myself out of my closet to come write. I'm definitely back in the game now, so keep checkin' in for updates!

A/N: I was re-reading chapter seven and I realised that Draco sooooooo wouldn't tell Drea that he's jealous of Ron yet, so I re-wrote that part. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, that's all right, I probably just changed it before you read it. Okay so here it is.

* * *

"With that redhead? Or does that not count because he's a pureblood?"

"Blood had nothing to do with that."

"Obviously."

"Weasley and I have our reasons."

"I'm sure."

"We do! The first time I me-"

"I don't care what your excuses are, Draco, I'm never going to forgive you for it."

"I didn't ask you to forgive me."

"Why are you here then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I wanted you to understand."

* * *

Chapter Eight - Jealousy and Confrontation

It was only nine days before Halloween and Drea still hadn't decided what she would wear. She still hadn't spoken to Draco, either. He had given her significant glances for the first few days, but had eventually stopped. Now Drea barely even saw the blonde, and had to admit that she wasn't all that disappointed. She was lonely, knowing that she had nobody that she could trust, save the dark-haired professor, (who she had seldom spoken to, even in class.) Thankfully, she had been distracted from this thought by the schoolwork and her friends during the day, but found that she was kept up later each night, thinking about the things that one usually refuses to think about during sunlit hours, such as the arrival of the Durmstrang students. Her and Xander had become closer, and had even gone for a butterbeer in Hogsmeade a few times, which had helped her to cope with her feelings, as he proved to be a very good listener.

Drea walked into the Potions class carrying her potions text, as she had charms next and needed only her wand. She took her usual seat beside Candra and said hello, then zoned out, thinking about what she could possibly dress up as. It had been so much simpler when she had been a child. She had been a vampire, a goblin, a giant, and various other 'scary' creatures, but now that she was older, she didn't find them as frightening. Her hair was black today, as it had been for the past couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, she didn't have the chance to ask Candra if she had any ideas, because Professor Snape had just entered the room with a grand flourish of his robes followed by the deafening sound of the thick wooden door slamming shut. Evidently, Hallowe'en was not the Professor's favourite holiday, as he had become more irritable the closer the holiday got.

They spent this lesson preparing an anti-oxidizing potion, of which Drea felt quite confident, until she heard Professor Snape's tone when she handed it in.

"See me after class, Ms Daray," he said in his intimidatingly deep voice.

"Yes Sir," Drea replied, returning to her spot. She furrowed her brow, wondering what had gotten the Professor into such a foul mood. She spent the last few minutes of class cleaning up her potion ingredients, making sure that she had prepared each one satisfactorily. She was finally content that she had followed all of the directions correctly and took her seat, only to stand up at the dismissal of the rest of the class. She put her potions text under her arm and walked cautiously toward the Professor, who was now standing at the door, frowning upon the students that walked past him, their heads bent. She waited until all of the students had left, then spoke to the surely man.

"You asked to see me, sir?"

"I demanded you see me, Ms Daray." Drea noticed the twitch in the corner of his mouth and found herself smiling. Even when the Professor was in the worst of moods, he still had his twisted sense of humour, which Drea found that she enjoyed. Drea decided to play along.

"Of course, sir. But how would you have reacted had I said 'you demanded my attention?'"

Professor Snape, who had been about to sit down, paused momentarily. He studied Drea, and a smile played on his lips. She was certainly one of the most fascinating people that he had ever met, and he had the feeling that he could tell her anything and that she would understand, or at least pretend to.

"I would have said, 'Have a seat, Ms Daray,'" he said, smirking.

"After raising an eyebrow and giving me detention, yes, you probably would have," Drea said, returning the smirk.

Severus subconsciously did raise an eyebrow, wondering to himself how this girl knew him so well when they had spent only minutes speaking. He dismissed it, and returned to what her had originally planned on talking to her about.

"As I understand it, you came from Durmstrang, correct?"

"Yes sir," Drea replied, realising that the fun in the conversation was over.

"If you are as intelligent as the quality of your potions suggests, you have no doubt realised that it may be difficult for you when the Durmstrang students arrive."

Drea allowed the pride that she felt from the compliment, but hid it on her face, not wanting to stray from the topic at hand. "Of course, sir," she replied instead. "I've been dreading it all month."

"I want you to know that if anything happens, you can speak to me about it and I will be sure to see that they are punished in the strictest of ways."

Drea paused before deciding to voice what she was thinking in her head. She finally decided that it couldn't hurt anything, and asked, "What are you doing this evening?"

"Correcting the rest of these foul potions, although an excuse to put it off would be well appreciated," he replied, once again raising an eyebrow and using humour to speak for his confusion.

"Would it be alright if I came to speak to you?"

"Of course, Ms Daray. Any time after I have left the Great Hall would be fine."  
"Thank you sir."

"You're quite welcome."

"…Sir?" she began hesitantly. "I'm late for my next class, and wondered if I needed a note?"

Severus looked at her with amusement, then pulled out a long green quill, some parchment and a bottle of ink and scribbled down an excuse note. Drea remarked that Professor Snape had very nice penmanship, although it was kept masculine, which was rare.

"Thank you sir" Drea replied after taking the note.

"You're welcome. Now get to class."

"Yes sir."

Drea left the room mentally slapping herself in the head. _What am I possibly going to say to him? He's going to think that I'm just another stupid teenage girl! _Drea sighed and walked into Charms class. She brought her note up to Professor Flitwick, then took her spot next to Candra. This week had been a consistent review for her, so she let herself zone out. Only when the teacup next to her fell to the ground with a crash did she return to the real world.

The boy sitting next to her looked embarrassed. She had never really noticed him before, even though she had been in most of her classes with him for two months. He had medium brown hair and eyes to match, and at the moment his face was bright red. Most of the class was laughing at him, including Candra. To save the boy the horror of having to look at the broken shards of porcelain on the ground in front of him, Drea quickly cleaned it up. The laughter stopped with the removal of the fractions of teacup. The boy looked over at her with surprise then quickly thanked her.

"I'm Sanen, by the way. I don't think we've ever been properly introduced."

"Drea Daray," she responded, shaking his hand awkwardly, as their shoulders were still facing toward the front of the class.

"Oh, you're the girl from Durmstrang, right?"

"Yeah," she said, bracing herself for the question that she was sure would follow. It never came.

"I've heard a lot about that school. My father went there, but my mother wanted me to come here. She knows quite a few of the teachers, and thought that I'd do better here. I don't have much magical talent, for some reason, and she figured that I might get more personal instruction."

"More than likely," Drea agreed. "Durmstrang only gives special attention to the very gifted."

"I take it you know this from experience?"

Drea did her own equivalent of blushing; she crossed her ankles under her chair. "Yes, I normally got quite a bit of attention. Mostly in potions, though. I'm lousy when it comes to transfiguration, and I've never taken Care of Magical Creatures, although it seems okay."

"I'm quite good at Care Of, and Herbology is a breeze for me too."

"That's good."

An awkward pause followed, both students having run out of anything to talk about. Drea resumed the conversation after a few minutes, just as abruptly as it had begun.

"So what are you doing for Hallowe'en?" she asked the brunette.

"I'm not sure yet. And yourself?"

"Probably going in to Hogsmead or something. All I know is that I'm not going to be in this school."

"Why not?"

"Durmstrang is going to be here," she stated matter-of-factly.

Sanen looked confused for a few moments, then asked, "...And?"

"Durmstrang is a very competitive school, and somehow I get the feeling that they aren't going to be overly enthused that I left that school for this one."

"Ah... I understand now," he said, nodding. "There's a par - "

Sanen didn't get a chance to finish his sentence; the bell rang and Professor Flitwick dismissed them promptly. Drea tried to scan the crowd for him, but he was already gone. _Ah well, I'll talk to him in the common room tonight._

Drea moved through the motions of lunch, not really paying attention to what was going on. She was strangely nervous about going to talk to the Professor, and was trying to decide how she should word what she had to say without sounding stupid.

Arithmancy was surprisingly difficult. Hermoine, who normally turned around after every paragraph to make sure that she was 'interpreting it correctly,' was silent, scribbling furiously on her parchment. Drea wrote down the sections that she thought would be important later on, then started on the assignment that they been given. At the end of class, Professor Vector informed them that the assignment would be due on Friday, then dismissed them.

Care of Magical Creatures was normal, or at least as normal as it ever was. The usual shrieking of the girls and even the occasional boy was present, though Drea barely noticed it. She was so busy worrying about her meeting with Professor Snape that she hardly noticed when her Skrewt stung her. It wasn't until after class, when she had taken her Skrewt back to Hagrid, that she even noticed the wound. Unfortunately, the blister had popped, and was releasing a combination of blood and green puss, not a pleasant thing to see. Drea explained to Candra that she would be a few minutes before she arrived at the Great Hall, then walked briskly to her room in the Slytherin dungeons.

She pulled out a bottle of potion that she had left over from when she had done Skrewts in 2nd year and put it on the wound. She watched in amazement as the puss dried up and cracked until there was nothing left. The blood was pulled back into her hand, but she was left with a nasty gash where the blister had broken. She put a bandage on it, then put her suitcase back under her bed. She was about to leave the room when she noticed that a paper dragon was sitting on her pillow. She picked it up and it immediately changed into a sheet of parchment on which a familiar writing was present. She folded the paper up and stuck it into her pocket, then ran to the Great Hall.

Xander saw Drea walk into the Great Hall and waved her over to where they were sitting. Chase, Jadon and Xander were almost completely finished their meals, and Candra was half finished.

"What took you so long?" Chase asked through a mouth-full of food.

"The stupid Skrewt stung me today in Care of Magical Creatures, so I had to run down to my room and fix it up."

"Why didn't you just go see Madam Pomfrey?" Xander asked after swallowing.

"I don't know. I never thought of it I guess," Drea replied, putting food onto her plate. She stared silently at the food, unfocussing her eyes until it all appeared to be the same colour.

"Drea?" Xander asked cautiously.

"What?" she answered, blinking her eyes a few times.

"Nothing, you just seemed a little spacey, that's all."

"Oh. Okay."

"What happened with you and Draco today?" Chase asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Drea asked, confused. "I haven't even spoken to him today. What do you mean? Did he say something?"

"No, he's staring at you."

"What?" Drea exclaimed, turning her head. Draco was, in fact, staring at her. "Oh, so he is," she said, letting no emotion show through her voice.

"So what happened then?"

"Nothing. I don't know what his problem is."

"Oh, all right," Chase said, but the tone of his voice let Drea know that he didn't believe her.

"I've got to go," Drea said, getting up from the table.

"Why?" Xander asked.

"I've got to go see Professor Snape."

"Uh oh," Chase, Xander and Candra all said at the same time.

"It's not a big deal."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Chase said, chewing his last bite of supper. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Drea said, raising an eyebrow. She walked out of the Great Hall and down to the Potions Room, then sat outside the door and took the letter out of her pocket.

****

Drea,

I thought about what you said about me having to put other people down to make myself feel good, and I think you're wrong. On the other hand, I still feel the need to explain myself, at least when it comes to Weasley.

I'm going to let you know something that nobody knows about me. I'm jealous. Not of Weasley, of course; I wouldn't want to be him for all the money and power in the world. I'm jealous of the fact that his family actually cares about one another. You probably don't think that this is a good enough reason for the way I treat him, but I do. You can't understand what it's like to live with two people who don't give a rat's ass about you. I just thought that maybe you would start talking to me if you could understand my side of it.

Draco

Drea re-read the letter three times, the folded it up and put it back into her pocket.

Why does he care what I think? she wondered curiously. _Most of the Slytherins worship him like some sort of god, why should my opinion matter? I guess that makes sense, in a weird way, _she thought to herself, cocking her head to the side. _He wants everyone to treat him that way, not just most people. On the other hand, maybe he does just want someone to understand him._

she wondered curiously. she thought to herself, cocking her head to the side. 

Drea sighed and stood up, then knocked quietly on the door to the classroom.

"Come in," said a distracted, deep voice.

Drea opened the door and walked into the classroom. There was a slightly iridescent, blue potion stuck to one of the tables. It was still steaming and gave off a faint smell of monkshood and apples. She took a seat directly in front of the Professor's desk and waited patiently for him to finish what he was working on.

After a couple of minutes, the Professor put down his quill and looked at Drea. She looked back at him, neither of them saying a thing. Finally, the dark-haired man broke the silence.

"What was it you wanted to see me for, Ms Daray?" he asked.

Drea drew in her breath, still unsure whether she wanted to discuss this topic with the intimidating man. It was something that she could never have spoken to Xander about, and Drea wasn't one to open up to females; they enjoyed gossiping too much. She eventually decided that, yes, she wanted someone to talk to and this man could quite possibly be the right choice.

"Sir, I know this is childish and you probably aren't concerned with the problems of a teenage girl, but I somehow think that you could be someone that I could trust." She paused for a moment, then continued. "I… the arrival of the Durmstrang students frightens me. I mean, I'm really, really worried. The school was so competitive, even within itself, and now that I've transferred here…" Drea trailed off, unsure of how to continue. The truth was, she had never put her fear into words before, even in her head.

"Ms Daray, I'm quite sure that nothing will happen. The security in the school will certainly be heightened, and as I have mentioned before, you can let me know if anything does end up happening."

"Sir, I don't mean that kind of thing."

* * *

Severus furrowed his brow in concern and confusion. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but didn't ask her to clarify, as he didn't know if it was something that he was ready to handle.

"I mean… oh, never mind, it's nothing Sir, thank you for your time," Ms Daray said, rising from her desk.

"Ms Daray, have a seat," he said, hoping that he didn't sound too abrupt.

"Yes Sir," she said, sitting back down.

Severus took a deep breath. "I do want to hear what you have to say, Ms Daray."

"Alright," she said, tugging on her ear lobe. "I don't think that the Durmstrang students are going to attempt to hurt me physically or with magic, though if they did decide to, they could probably get around the teachers here. It's just that, the students there know a lot more about my past than the students here do, and I was hoping to keep it that way. I'm just worried that they might try to hurt me by giving me a reputation I'd rather not have."

Severus sat there, watching the girl and wondering what the appropriate thing to say might be. Nobody had ever come to him with problems of this sort before, and he found himself quite confused.

"What sort of things might they say, if you don't mind my asking?" he asked, hoping that perhaps his interest might help to reassure her.

"Probably a lot about my family that I'd rather keep hidden, and maybe some stuff about past relationships. It's also quite likely that they will throw in a load of bull to keep it interesting."

"I see," he said, understanding the power that a reputation can have. Still, he was curious why such an obviously individual and strong character such as Ms Daray would care about something like that. "Why does this bother you so much?" he asked in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

"I'm not really sure. It isn't exactly what they'll do that frightens me. It's something else…" she said. She sounded defeated, as though bothered by the fact that she couldn't explain what was bothering her.

"Try to explain it, Ms Daray. I have lots of time," she said, looking the girl in the eyes. She looked down at her lap, picking absently at the chipped dark green nail polish on her nails. Finally, crossing her ankles, she looked up to meet his gaze.

"I guess I'm just afraid of confrontation. I… it was just easier to be afraid of their words than to admit that I was afraid of them. I guess I just convinced myself that it was true," she finished.

Severus looked into the girl's eyes and knew that she was telling the truth. He wished that he could say the right thing, something to comfort her. "Ms Daray, facing your old classmates will probably be harder for you than the entire Triwizard tournament will be," he started. _Off to an excellent start, Severus,_ he thought sarcastically to himself. "However, you seem like a very strong girl, especially after what you've been through in your life, and I'm sure that somehow, you will make it through this."

The girl's eyes lit up behind the small layer of tears. "Thank you, Sir," she said, rising from her desk.

"Of course, Ms Daray. Anytime."

"No, really Sir, you can't understand how much this meant to me," she said, smiling sadly. She then turned from him and walked quickly out of the room.

Severus put his head into his hands and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure what he had said that had reassure the girl so much, but was glad that he had managed to say something right. He rubbed his temples, then went back to correcting the fourth year potions.

* * *

Drea walked out of the room feeling relieved, like a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The stress of not having someone to trust was gone. More than that, the professor hadn't treated her like a stupid emotional teenager, he had listened and tried to understand what she was saying.

She decided to explore the castle further and clear her mind before she headed back to the Common Room. She walked through the West half of the school, all seven floors of it, then decided to venture outside. The sun had already set and the moon was up, but the sky was still too bright for stars. It was, after all, only 7 o'clock.

Drea walked down to the lake and sat quietly on a rock. She watched a giant squid swimming gracefully beneath the surface of the water. She shifted her position on the rock, the sound of the letter crunching in her pocket disturbing the awesome silence that surrounded her. She sighed and slid off the front of the rock, using it as a back support for her new seat on the grass.

Professor Snape was certainly a different kind of man. His personality was so defined, he never strayed from it, and yet every time Drea spoke to him, she saw something new in him, something that she hadn't seen before. There was something that she was missing about him, or maybe he missing it even himself.

Sighing again, Drea flopped onto her back and gazed up at the constantly darkening sky. Stars were fully visible now, and she could feel the chill of the frost melting, then soaking into her sweatshirt. She shivered and, realising how late it was getting, started her walk back into the castle.

Drea felt the warmth of the castle as soon as she entered the doors. She explored the East half of the castle, then walked back down to the dungeons. The moisture in her sweatshirt started to cool down, therefore she used a spell to dry it out. The Common Room was nearly empty, so Drea got a book out of her room, changed into her pyjamas, then walked back out to the Common Room and curled up on a huge black chair in front of the fireplace to read.

When Drea finally looked up from her book, the Common Room was completely empty. Looking up at the clock, she realised that it was 1 o'clock in the morning. She was in a very strange position; her head was on the seat and her feet were slung over the top of the chair. She tried to get off of the chair carefully, but ended up falling off and causing a huge noise. Cursing and hoping that she hadn't woken anyone, she got up off the floor and sat on the chair properly.

She sat there for a few moments, gazing into the flames, then heard someone coming. She looked over at the hallway where the rooms were, hoping that it wasn't the female Prefect. Drea had gotten into some pretty petty arguments with the girl, mostly concerning completely untrue accusations about Xander, and didn't know how she would react, finding her out of bed at this hour.

Drea felt a strange mix of relief and horror when she realised that it was the one and only Draco Malfoy. He looked concerned, a look that she had seldom seen on the blonde.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "What happened?"

"I just fell off the chair, I'm fine," she responded, embarrassed but not showing it.

"Oh… alright then," Draco said awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"Yeah. So what are you doing up so late?" she asked, trying to ease the tension.

"I have trouble sleeping most nights, especially lately. It's strange," he added after a thoughtful pause, "Because when I was young I used to sleep all the time."

"Maybe your body is just making up for that," Drea suggested, not really meaning it.

"How about you? Why were you out here anyway?"

"I was reading and I forgot about the time," she said, lifting the book to help him understand, though she later realised how stupid that had been.

"What book are you reading?" he asked, walking over to her.

"'Wizards and Witches of the 13th century,'" she said, showing him the cover.

"Looks interesting."

"It is."

Another pregnant pause filled the room, the awkwardness of the situation returning like a headache when the medicine wears off.

"Well, I guess I'm going to get to bed. I'm actually fairly tired now that I've looked at the time."

"Alright."

"I still haven't forgiven you, you know."

"But do you understand?"

Drea stopped walking and turned to face the blonde. His facial expression was one of curiosity, but his eyes held desperation and pain. "Yes, Draco, I think I do."

"That's all I ever asked for," he said, his eyes doing the smiling for him.

"I know," she said, turning the corner and walking down the hallway, then into her room. She fell asleep only minutes later with a smile on her lips.

* * *

Alright, so let me know what worked and what didn't. I'm trying my best from now on to update about twice a month...(Crosses fingers)... but the main point is that I'm back in action. No more of this leaving the story for 5 months.

In my defense, I wrote a 25000 word novel in French (not my first language) in 30 days for school, so after that I kinda died. I was a bit tired of writing, but I should be okay now.

REVIEW PLEASE, IT HELPS KEEP ME INSPIRED. I don't mind flames either, I can pick through them and find my errors so those can be helpful.


	9. Unforgivable Conversations

Brianne - Uum… thanks? Haha, I'm not really what to say to you. Hope you like this one, I don't think you've read this one yet.

Liliana - Thank you! Drea and Draco may end up together, but you'll have to keep reading to find out. It's going be a bumpy road for them, either way. As a couple, I think they could work, although I have someone else in mind right now. Any guesses who it might be?

The song in this chapter is called _Push_ by _Moist_.

* * *

Chapter 9 - Unforgivable Conversations

Defence Against the Dark Arts the next morning created an entirely new brand of shock for Drea. She'd been surprised before, even horrified by some of the spells that they'd learned at Durmstrang, but this was just disgusting.

"Curses," he blurted out as soon as the class began. "They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry, I'm only supposed to teach you counter-curses, that's all. You aren't supposed to see the Unforgivables until your sixth year, but Professor Dumbledore and I discussed it, and we say the sooner you know what you're up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourselves against something you haven't seen?"

A murmur of general approval filled the room. Anger seethed up inside of Drea.

"A wizard who's about to put an illegal curse on you isn't about you tell you what's he's going to do. He's not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. CONSTANT VILIGANCE!

"Now, do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizard law?"

Nearly every hand in the room shot up into the air, excluding only Draco's and Drea's.

"Yes, Mr Zabini," Professor Moody said, though his magical eye was clearly fixed on Drea.

"The Cruciatus curse," he said proudly, smiling at the girl sitting next to him.

"Yes, the Cruciatus curse." He reached into the jar sitting on his desk and pulled out a small spider. "Needs to be a bit bigger for you to see it properly," he explained, after enlarging it. "Now watch carefully. _Crucio!_"

The spider on the desk began to twitch and curl its legs up. When Professor Moody didn't stop, it began to rock and shudder more violently. Finally, when the spider had almost completely stopped moving, he removed his wand and put the spider back into the jar.

"Now, does anyone know why the spider stopped moving near the end there? Mr Malfoy?"

Draco raised his eyes but not his face to the Professor. His jaw was clenched and his eyes held more anger than Drea had ever seen in the boy. "Its body was shutting down. Its body was dying."

"Correct. Five points to Slytherin. Does anyone know another Unforgivable curse? Mr Crabbe?"

"Avada Kadevra," he said stupidly, as though he could form the words but had no idea what they meant.

"Yes, the worst curse… the killing curse. There's no counter-curse, no blocking it. Only one person's ever survived it, and that's Harry Potter." He paused to allow that to sink in. He then pulled the same spider out of the jar. "_Avada Kadevra!_"

A green light flashed out of his wand and the spider died instantly on the desk. Drea cast a glance at Draco, whose jaw had clenched more than even before. His fists were wrought so tight that his knuckles were turning blue.

"To perform this spell, you have to really mean it. Simply uttering the words will mean nothing. Aside from a few select members of this class, you could probably all point your wands at me right now and say it, and it would probably tickle.

"And the third Unforgivable? Can anyone tell me its name? Ms Parkinson?"

"Imperius."

"A very popular spell a while back. It got so bad that the Ministry couldn't tell who was under it and who was acting of their own free will." He pulled another spider out of the jar and put the curse on it, causing it to perform cartwheels, then a tap dance. Some of the students looked bored; Drea felt sick.

"The Imperius curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. Now take out your quills and copy this down."

The spent the rest of the class copying down notes. Drea's writing was shaky; she couldn't help it, she was so angry. The curses were illegal for a reason. And the way her had kept the spider under the Cruciatus spell until it nearly died was so enraging that she had nearly walked out of the room. After all of the questions she had been asked about learning the Unforgivables, simply because she was from Durmstrang, she had ended up learning them here at Hogwarts.

Finally the class was dismissed. Drea picked up her books angrily and stormed out of the room. She could feel Moody's magical eye on the back of her head, and nearly gave him the finger. Draco came up beside her, as though sensing her anger, and touched her hand gently. It had been only for a moment, but she recognised the gesture for what it was and thanked him with her eyes.

* * *

"Cut Runes with me," Draco said suddenly, in a deep, quiet voice.

Drea thought about it for almost three seconds, then turned toward the doors to leave the castle. Draco followed her closely, trying to blend in with the rest of the students. He followed her all the way to the lake, where she finally stopped and sat down in the grass. She threw her books onto the ground and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Draco lay on his back, putting his arms behind his neck for support, and stayed there, watching the long, thin clouds drifting across the grey sky. He turned his head to look a Drea, who now leaned against a large rock, looking back at him. She smiled sadly, then looked across the lake. Draco turned to see what she was looking at, but saw nothing.

"Drea," he started casually, "Why did you change schools?"

"You know what happened in class today?"

"Yeah," Draco answered, unsure what that had to do with his question. The anger that had finally calmed down blew up once again, though it was much easier to keep it under control now that he was alone with the girl. Professor Moody had lied, among other things, and that angered him more than anything.

"That was everyday at Durmstrang. Everyday you learned a new way to hurt the people around you. It was like a huge brainwashing community, not a school. That's when I started dying my hair different colours and stopped speaking up in class," she finished, sounding almost sorry for the way things had turned out.

"Did you have many friends?" he asked, hoping to bring up something happy about the school to lighten her mood.

"Yeah, I guess so. I didn't really trust any of them though, save maybe my ex-boyfriend. He was the only person I could talk to, but I got along okay with everyone else. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you seemed very stand-offish when I first met you, almost like you didn't want to trust anybody," he said. He had been wondering about her strange attitude for quite a while now.

"I didn't."

"Why not?" he asked, confused. He had thought that everyone wanted someone to trust.

"I've found that in my experience, giving people your trust only gives them a chance to break it."

"Do you trust me?"

Drea turned her head from the spot across the lake and looked him straight in the eyes. He looked back, wondering what she was thinking. She was so individual, and he wanted so badly to know what went on in her head. Her self-confidence was so real, not generated like that of Zabini, or overwhelming like that of his father. She turned away from him, looking back at her non-existent spot across the lake.

"I'm not sure yet," she answered honestly, after a long, thoughtful pause.

"Drea?"

"Yeah."

"We're going to get in trouble for cutting class aren't we?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Okay," Draco said, gazing into the grey expansion above him.

* * *

Drea ended up missing the rest of her classes for the day. Her and Draco had spent it writing lines in opposite corners of the Potions class. She now sat in front of the man, who was very angry and wasn't the least bit concerned about showing it.

"What could have possibly possessed you two to skip a class?" he asked. "What were you even doing? Actually, I'm not sure that I want to know, it doesn't matter. There is nothing that could possibly lend an excusable reason." He paused at this, glaring down on the pair with disdain in his eyes.

"Have you any idea what this does to the reputation of this House?" he asked. "My two best students, skipping class, and together I might add. Would either of you care to explain your absence?"

Drea looked cautiously at Draco, who looked at her with a blank stare. She took a deep breath, her words choking in her throat, then spoke.

"Sir, I… we were both very upset about the events of our Defence Against the Dark Arts class; I probably would have lost it if I had've gone to class."

"Not that it matters, but what could have possibly upset you both so much that you had to skip class?"

"Sir, Professor Moody showed us the Unforgivables today," Draco said, speaking up. "He also said that Harry Potter was the only person to have ever survived the Killing Curse."

For a moment, the Professor's face showed rage, understanding and deep sadness. It then changed back to the ever-familiar disgust that he had previously been sporting. Drea herself had no idea what Draco's last sentence had to do with anything, but barely had time to realise this before the Professor spoke again.

"I shall speak to Professor Moody about this. However, this was a complete disrespect for the rules. Detention with myself for the next week, beginning now." The surly man turned and walked to his desk, took a seat and began to work. Drea sat expectantly in her desk, waiting for instructions from the man, then realised that they weren't coming. Her and Draco ended up sitting in silence for four hours.

* * *

"You may go," the Professor said finally. "Although I'd like to speak with you in private for a moment, Mr Malfoy."

Draco watched Drea walk out of the room, then turned back to the man. "I am very disappointed with you, Draco. I don't care what Moody says in that class, it is no reason to risk the entire House's reputation."

"Yes Sir," he replied, careful not to allow his clenched jaw to show.

"Draco, you know that Professor Moody probably is not even aware of the fact that another person has withstood the killing curse," he said with more compassion.

"Well maybe he should. Maybe everyone should know. I'm so bloody tired of everyone standing in awe of Harry Potter, 'the boy would bloody fucking lived,' while I get nothing. Potter didn't even do anything, everyone knows that it was his mother dying for him that saved him. Why is he such a big deal and I, who actually fought off the curse, am just another Malfoy, popular only because of my wealth and my father's power?"

"Kindly watch your choice of language, Draco. Using vulgar terms only shows your lack of vocabulary."

Draco glared at the man, furious with his reaction. He was supposed to be comforting, he was supposed to reassure Draco that the man would be in Azkaban soon enough, not comment on his choice of language.

"May I go now, Sir?"

"Make sure it doesn't happen again Draco."

"Yes Sir."

"You may go."

Draco left the room without another word and found Drea standing beside the closed door, waiting for him.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He just told me that he was disappointed with me."

"Oh," Drea said in a voice that led Draco to believe that she didn't really believe him. Just before they entered the Common Room, she grabbed his arm. "Draco… I heard what you said."

Draco stared at Drea, confused emotions welling up inside of him. Part of him wanted to cry, wanted to sink to the floor and feel her warm arms around him, soothing him. Another part of him wanted to scream at her, furious that she had listened in. A third part was glad that someone other that Snape knew. A fourth part, and the most dominate Malfoy trait, the pride aspect of his personality, wanted to walk away as though he had no clue what on Earth she was saying, which was precisely what he did.

"Draco…" she said pitifully just before he entered the room.

Drea slept horribly that night. First she was angry, then sad, and finally she sunk into a disturbed sleep. She awoke at 5 o'clock in the morning and found herself unable to sleep, so got dressed and walked down to the Great Hall, carrying her book under her arm.

Unsurprisingly, nobody was there. That suited Drea just fine, she just wanted to be alone anyway. She tried to read, but found that the words blurred together after only moments so closed it and put her head down on the table. She had almost fallen asleep again, but heard someone sitting down and picked up her head.

Sitting across from her was Draco. His hair was messy and his eyes were troubled. She looked at him, unsure of what to say.

"It was Voldemort," he said finally. Drea reached out and put her hand over his. They sat like that for maybe ten minutes, neither one speaking.

"Did it hurt?" she asked.

"Like hell."

"What made you do it?"

"Hatred and the desire to prove them both wrong."

"Both?" Drea asked without thinking.

"Voldemort and my father. He thinks Voldemort is so strong, that nobody can resist him. I proved him wrong.

"I hate him," he added after a pause. "I wish he'd rot in Azkaban. I wish that they'd leave him there until he lived only because he body was still functioning, then suck his soul right out of his body. If he has one, that is."

Drea was overwhelmed. She'd never seen someone so full of pure, unbridled hatred before. "Let's go for a walk."

"Where?" he asked, distracted for a moment.

"Does it matter?" she asked rhetorically. She then stood up and took his hand in her own. They walked to the lake without really realising it and lay beside each other, each lost in their own thoughts. Draco flipped onto his side and propped his head up, looking at Drea, an expression that Drea couldn't quite place on his face. She eyed him curiously, wondering what he was thinking.

"Drea… I… Thank you," he said just before bringing his lips to hers. It was so natural that Drea had closed her eyes even before he reached her. She felt the rush that one feels when they experience their first kiss in a relationship, along with the comfort that came only with time. When Draco finally pulled away and told her quietly that he'd see her in class, she nodded slowly and stared across the lake, though this time she wasn't wondering what was behind the massive forest that surrounded her. She was still wondering what Draco was thinking.

Ten minutes before classes started, Drea got up from her spot in the grass. She ran to the Common Room to get her books, then walked to Arithmancy. Hermoine turned around and spoke to her before she even had a chance to sit down.

"Where were you during Runes yesterday?" she asked accusingly.

"Me and Draco went down to the lake." After seeing the disapproving look on the brunette's face, she quickly explained what had happened in Defence Against the Dark Arts and how they were upset.

"Was Professor Snape angry?"

"Furious. We have detention with him until Thursday."

Hermoine started to say something, but Professor Vector walked into the room and began the lesson. Drea looked over at Draco who looked back at her, smiling. She smiled back, then turned to her page and started copying the notes off the board.

She sat with Draco, Blaise and Pansy at lunch, but Pansy ended up leaving in only minutes, due to the fact that Drea had insulted her since the moment she had sat down.

"Where were you yesterday, Malfoy?" Blaise asked the blonde, smirking wildly.

"Got caught cutting class and spent the rest of the day writing lines."

"Sucks to be you, man," Blaise said, smacking Draco on the back. "So what are you plans for Hallowe'en, Drea?"

"Not sure yet, but I'm sure not going to be here."

"Do you really think Professor Snape will let you leave the school after you cut class?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Ooo, rebellious," he said, winking.

"The way I see it, if I don't ask, he can't say no, right?" she said, smirking. Draco was giving her an incredulous look, but at the moment she really only cared about Blaise.

"Are you going to look for a party, or is it going to be more of a two-person kinda thing?" he asked, winking again.

"Well, I suppose that all depends," she answered flirtatiously.

"Depends on what?"

"If anyone asks me out," she said, standing up and walking away. She had no idea where she was going, she had done it only for effect. That and it had been quite awkward flirting with Blaise while Draco was there. She decided to go down to the Common Room to read for a while before Potions. She brought out her book and sat on the sofa in front of the fire. She had read only two pages before Draco came into the Common Room and sat down beside her.

"Hey," he said. "Why'd you leave?"

She hesitated a moment. "I realised that I took it too far and needed to end it."

"So you weren't hitting on Blaise?"

"No, I was, but I was joking."

"But you don't want to date him?"

"Definitely not."

Draco lightened up a bit. "I'm glad, he said, leaning in to kiss her. She moved out of his reach and cocked her head to the side. He looked at her with a furrowed brow, his eyes full of hurt and confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just need to talk to you about this morning." She folded her legs up under her and turned to face him. "Draco, I thought we were different."

"So did I, that's why I did it. I really like you Drea."

"That's not what I mean. I thought that we were friends," she said, hoping that she wasn't offending him.

"Oh," he said, then after a short pause, added, "Okay. Well, I have to get ready for Potions, I'll see you in class."

"Are you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" he said innocently, his eyes answering differently. "See you around."

* * *

Severus told Professor Moody in a very polite, and yet very intimidating voice, that he would like to speak to him when he was finished his dinner.

"Where will I be able to find you?" he asked, smiling like a large purple and pink cat that Severus had once seen in a muggle movie. It wasn't a very good movie, mind you, but it had interesting concepts if you looked closely enough.

"I'll be in my classroom. You know were it is, I believe?"

"Of course, Snape ol' boy."

"Right." How he wished Moody would stop calling him 'ol' boy.' He went back to his chair to finish his food, watching Draco and Ms Daray with interest. He nearly laughed when Pansy stalked away from the group. He had very clearly heard Ms Daray tell her that she couldn't arouse an 80-year-old sailor.

Severus had been observing Draco and Ms Daray curiously. Only a few days ago, Draco had been complaining about the insufferable ability that the girl had for holding a grudge, and now they were rarely apart. He watched Ms Daray get up from her seat, followed minutes later by Draco. He half-smiled fondly, remembering a very young Draco telling him that he would never like girls, then pushed his plate away and walked down to the dungeons.

Once in the classroom, he began preparing the room for the 4th years' Potions class. He remembered that the class would be ending half an hour early next week and briefly thanked the gods for this coincidence.

Professor Moody knocked on the door with a crooked smile and let himself in before Severus could even respond.

"Professor Moody," he said, nodding slightly.

"How have you been, Snape?" Moody said cheerfully, though something wasn't quite right with the way he said it.

"Fine. As you know I don't believe in small talk, so let's get right to it. Some of my students informed me that you demonstrated the Unforgivables in your classroom yesterday."

"Yes I did. If they don't know what they look like, how will they be able to fight it?" he said, the smile on his face looking quite out of place.

"I trust that Professor Dumbledore knows about this?"

"Of course, Snape ol' boy. You don't really think that I'd do something without Professor Dumbledore's permission, now do you?" he asked with a smirk.

Severus glared at the man, letting him know full well that this was not the case. "I have also been informed that you told the students that Harry Potter is the only person to have ever survived the killing curse."

"Well, it's true, is it not, Snape?" Moody asked maliciously.

"We both know full well that it is not," Severus said just as maliciously. He saw something flash behind the man's eyes, but it was gone too suddenly for him to recognize it. "I would appreciate it if you would stop giving out misinformation. Also, I have become aware of your intention to cast the Imperius spell on the students. As long as Dumbledore has approved this, I can do nothing about it, however if any of my students chose not to participate, that is their decision and they will be excused without punishment of any kind. You may leave now, my students will be arriving soon."

"See you around, Snape," Moody said over his shoulder. He was acting strangely, almost unlike himself. Honestly, Professor Snape was not expecting any students for at least ten minutes. They tended to arrive just minutes before the class began. They avoided being in the room any longer than they had to, Severus guessed. He sat down at his desk and began reading over his notes for what must have been the hundredth time, hoping to find the problem with the potion that he had been working on.

He read his papers twice, noticing nothing that he hadn't noticed before, then sighed, putting his head in his hands. He then heard two voices in the hallway, headed for the classroom. Moments later, Draco and Ms Daray entered the room talking animatedly about dragons. He tried to be angry with them for skipping class the previous day, but once again the image of the small boy, hair in disarray, sweat on his brow, running up to his front door with urgency in his eyes.

"Hide me, Sevrus!" he had said quickly, panting.

"What is the matter, Draco?" a much younger version of Severus asked him.

"Those girls are chasing me again! Hurry!"

"Which girls?" Severus asked, visually upsetting the boy with his lack of speed.

"Those girls! Pansy and Violet and… Rebekka! Hurry, Sevrus!"

"You know, in a few years you'll be interested in girls, Draco," he said, smirking and walking calmly into his house, then closing the door behind Draco.

"Yuck! I will never like girls, Sevrus. Never!"

Severus smiled at Draco, who was looking at him curiously, then went back to reading his notes.

* * *

"Are you mad?" Drea asked him.

"Why would I be mad?" he answered sweetly, trying to hide the sarcasm and anger that he was feeling. Of course he was angry! "See you around," he added over his shoulder, then walked into his room.

What is wrong with me? he wondered furiously. Ever since she had showed up, he had been so confused about everything. _And now the one thing that I was actually sure about blew up in my face._

he wondered furiously. Ever since she had showed up, he had been so confused about everything. 

Draco put his head in his hands, sighing deeply. He wasn't really angry with Drea; he was more frustrated with himself. She was constantly throwing him off. How long would it be before he screwed up in public?

He heard Drea sigh and get up from her chair, then walk to her room. Draco got up quickly and fixed his hair, then grabbed his Potions text and walked out of his room. Drea was just leaving her room and eyed him curiously. He turned to her and waited for her to catch up.

They walked to Potions together, talking about dragons, as it seemed that Drea was quite fond of them and Draco's father was funding several organisations around the world including Greece, Korea, Romania, and even a few in America. The conversation had been difficult and forced at first, but as soon as Drea got started on the different breeds and their unique markings, they both relaxed and the conversation flowed. They ever ended up arriving early for Potions. Professor Snape glared at them but said nothing. When Draco looked up at him a few minutes later, the Professor's face flicked into what could have very possibly been an actual smile. Draco returned the smile with a smirk, then returned his attention to Drea.

* * *

Precisely one week later Drea and Draco were walking to Potions. Draco was talking about the different challenges that would probably be part of the tournament, but Drea wasn't really paying attention. She was thinking about the arrival of the Durmstrang students, wishing desperately that she could miss their arrival. She was so lost in thought, however, that she walked straight into Professor Snape's.

"Er… sorry, Professor," she stammered, "I was thinking about something else."

Professor Snape twisted into an amused smile, but his eyes showed that he understood completely. "Ms Daray, you seem to show a fair bit of aptitude in Potions. I was wondering if you would stay after class and look over the notes that I have made on an experiment I am doing."

Drea's eyes opened widely. "Of course, Sir! The opportunity to read your work without the editing of the magazines would be fantastic!" Drea nearly winced when she saw the look that Draco was giving her; he looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"The documents are on my desk. When you have finished with today's assignment you may take them. However, I would like them to stay in my room."

"Yes, Sir," Drea said. She had forgotten completely about Durmstrang now.

Drea worked as quickly as she could to prepare her potion, making certain that everything was prepared properly. When she was finished, she brought the potion to Professor Snape's desk, carefully picked up the documents that she found there, and moved to a desk in the far corner of the room.

She read over his notes twice before the class was dismissed, but was so caught up in them that she didn't even notice that the room was empty until she had finished reading it for the seventh time.

"Professor, what time is?" she asked, panicking suddenly.

"It is approaching 5:30," he answered smoothly.

"I should be in the Great Hall right now!" she said anxiously, then frowned at looked at the man. "May I stay here until they've arrived?" she asked.

" Ms Daray, I have alternate intentions with almost everything that I do. Aside from hoping that your insight may help me find my errors, I thought that it might keep your mind off of the arrival of the other students. Unfortunately, I must go to the Great Hall myself; therefore cannot leave you here alone."

"Alright. Thank you Sir, it really did get my mind off of their arrival. I've just got to run to the Dorms for a moment, then I'll be there."

"Hurry Ms Daray."

"I will Sir."

Drea ran all the way to the Dorms, which really wasn't all that far in comparison to the rest of the school, but it did take a good three minutes. She changed into some nicer clothes, redid her eyeliner, then threw her robes back on and ran to the Great Hall. Upon entering, she realised that nobody was there. She looked around for a moment, confused, then heard slowly crescendo-ing voices coming from outside. She walked quickly down the hall, scanned the huge crowd that was waiting outside for Draco, then saw Chase waving to her like a maniac and walked over to where he was standing.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"I had to stay after Potions," she said.

"Professor Snape was here 10 minutes ago."

"Yeah I know, I had to change and fix my eyeliner," she said, standing on her toes to see over the crowd, who were equally standing on their toes to see a huge, flying horse-drawn carriage landing on the ground. They watched huge woman, followed by several students wrapped in thin shawls, step down from the carriage and walk into the castle.

"I thought you didn't care what they thought of you," Xander said to Drea alone.

So did I.

"Who said it was for them," she said, winking at him.

"I haven't seen much of you lately," he said more loudly, letting the others back into the conversation.

"I've been in detention for the past week."

"With Malfoy, right?" Xander asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, what about it?" she retorted, more defensively than she had meant to.

"Nothing, I just haven't seen much of him either." As an afterthought, he added, "Not that that's a big disappointment."

"You know, he really isn't that bad once you get to know him," she said, standing on her toes again.

"Maybe you just don't know him well enough," Jadon said. Drea stopped looking for the ship that she was sure Durmstrang would be arriving on and stared at him. It was the first time she had ever heard him speak. His voice was deep and smooth, strong yet quiet. His deep brown eyes stared at her with startling seriousness, as though he had never said anything so important in his life. She wondered if she should say something back, stand up for the boy, maybe, but Jadon seemed so sure of himself, so positive that there was more to him than she was seeing. There was something strange about his stony silence, something intriguing.

The voices of the crowd of students standing outside the school suddenly raised and Drea saw the familiar mast of the Durmstrang ship raising from the water. The students walked off of the ship, mostly males, wrapped in thick cloaks of fur. Drea saw Karkaroff step toward the Head Master and shake his hand, nearly releasing an animal-like growl. She hated the man with a passion.

She could hear nothing that was said. Both men were smiling broadly, but unlike Professor Dumbledore, Karkaroff's eyes didn't match the expression on his face. Something cold was smouldering in them.

"Is that… it IS! Harry… its Krum!" Drea heard a voice say. She looked to see the redhead from the Great Hall pointing toward a dark, cloaked figure walking past her into the castle. It most definitely was Krum, his posture was unmistakable, as was the attention that Karkaroff was lending him. She recognised a few of the others as well, none of them fondly.

"Drea, what's wrong?" Xander asked her, walking into the castle.

"Nothing," she said unconvincingly. He nodded, then sat down at the Slytherin table. She watched Viktor and the other students from Durmstrang standing by the door.

Drea watched Viktor scan the room, glancing toward the ceiling, which was now a deep, dark blue, then to the staff table. Dumbledore motioned excitedly for him to sit down, after which he looked at the Hogwarts students for the first time. He looked around quickly, then chose the Slytherin table, followed immediately by the rest of the Durmstrang delegates.

Drea became very interested in the food on her plate, then looked up at Xander and Chase and rejoined the conversation that they had been having. She tried to listen, she truly did, but she could hear Draco speaking loudly again, like he had at the beginning of the year, when he had been trying to impress everyone. _Why does he have to change all the time?_ she thought desperately. _Why can't he realise that people would be more impressed if he would just be himself?_

"Drea?" Xander said carefully, his voice full of concern.

"Yeah?" she said, picking up her head from her hands.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I've just got a headache is all."

"Alright," he answered, not really believing her.

"I'm going to go back to the Dorms. I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said, pushing away her plate and getting up from the table. Just before leaving, she cast a glance at Jadon, who was watching her curiously. She turned away and walked out of the Great Hall, deciding to go to the library.

She had read over the Professor's notes so many times that she had memorised the list of ingredients, the quantities, the directions, and the results. She wrote down the first three, ignoring the last, then pulled out every book that she thought might be useful. Working on potions had always made her relax. It was something about the preciseness, the knowledge of what will happen, and at the same time the anticipation of what might happen if one was to change the potion. She wrote down the properties of each ingredient, which took a significantly long time, considering the long list, then the reactions that each might have with another on the list.

It was something that Drea had always done as a child, then in her first year of school. Demitri had asked her to research the ingredients in potions that he had been working on, and then to form a hypothesis based on what she had learned. She had become quite adept, almost every hypothesis matching the actual results. She had nearly perfected the art, coming so close that her hypotheses different from the actual results only by a fraction, when ever. She hoped that by doing this, she might find the problem that the Professor was having. It also pushed her thoughts of her past to the back of her brain for a while.

Mudfungus, a very powerful poisonous fungus found in the Central regions of Canada, most commonly in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In small doses it can build up one's immune system, but when taken in doses larger than 2 ml per 7 gallons of liquid ingredients, it can-

"Drea?" a low, husky and familiar voice called.

Drea jumped, startled by the sudden break in the silence. She looked up but saw no one.

"Who's there?" she asked, unafraid but bothered.

"It is me, Viktor," the voice said, a body stepping into the room to confirm this.

"Why aren't you in the Great Hall?"

"I didn't see you anywhere so I told Karkaroff that I was going to bed and came looking for you. Besides, there was this very obnoxious boy bragging about his father."

"That's Draco. He isn't always like that." Drea finished awkwardly. She still found herself unsure of what she felt for the boy.

"I miss you," Viktor said, sitting down across from Drea. "School is not the same without you," he said sadly. "Professor Cadrick had decided that since you are gone, I am the one who is to be the hardest worker in Potions. Transfiguration is less interesting without your constant mistakes," he said, changing his tone to a happier one. "The Quidditch team is very good this year. Are you having lots of friends here?"

"It's 'Do you have,' Viktor," she said, smiling a little, "But yes, I'm doing all right."

"Why did you have to leave, Drea?"

"It's better this way," she stated matter-of-factly.

"You keep saying that, but you do not tell me why."

"It's hard to explain."

"Please try."

"I have to go," she said, picking up the notes that she had made.

"They are very angry, you know."

"I expected that."

"You did not expect this, Drea. All they spoke of the whole way here was how to destroy you."

"I can handle them. You know that Viktor."

"I know. Good night."

"Good night."

Drea walked out of the library having learned something, but not what she had expected to. She had expected them to be angry with her, maybe even send her a couple curses every once in a while, but this was serious. She had seen it in Viktor's eyes; they wanted to hurt her.

She walked into her Dorm and did the only thing that had ever helped her deal with her feelings. Drea pulled her guitar out from under her bed and sang. She sang softly, angrily and with so much emotion that she nearly cried. When she couldn't bare to sing anymore, she pictured the words in her head, each one striking her with such force that she could hardly stand even that.

A little bit more than I ever wanted  
A little bit more than you could ever say  
Did you really think that I'd forgotten?  
Kicked out the windshield, water coming in  
Fade away, fade away

I tried to give more than you thought I'd take now  
Taking more than you could ever say  
Push come to shove you kicked me in the head  
You knock me down I ripped the handle off again  
I wanted more than this, wanted more than this  
Fade away, fade away

Push just a little too late  
Is this what you want? What you need?  
Is this what you wanted me to be?  
Always loved me strapped to you  
Lock it down and drive me through

Hands gripped to the wheel held too tight to feel  
Face pressed to the glass, please don't ask  
One more breath, one more, it's alright  
I could never give enough, have enough, be enough  
You could never stand to stay there  
Only only only, fade away, fade away

"Drea?"

Drea jumped at the sound of her name for the second time that night. "Draco, how are you in my room? I mean, aren't there spells or something?"

Draco laughed honestly. It was a pleasant sound. "Everybody knows that any girl in Slytherin can take any guy. It should be the guys that are protected."

Drea smiled appreciatively, then put her guitar on the ground.

"Some of the Durmstrang boys were looking for you. Where were you, I haven't seen you all night?"

"Well, I ended up staying later with Professor Snape than I intended. Xander and Candra and them were being too nosy, and you were acting like a jerk, so I decided to leave. I saw Viktor in the library, then I came back here."

"What do you mean I was acting like a jerk?"

"When you start getting cocky or when you're trying to impress someone, your voice gets a little higher and you talk louder."

"I don't need to impress those guys. I already know that I'm better than them."

"So do I, most of them. That's why it's so frustrating. I just don't get it Draco, why do you always feel the need to make yourself look better than everyone else. I really just makes you look ignorant and stuck-up."

"Oh, and I expect that you're just perfect!"

"I didn't say that."

"Why is it that you're so scared of these people anyway? What did you do that makes you so afraid?"

"It's what I didn't do."

"So tell me, why don't you?"

"Because it's none of your business, that's why. Get out of my room."

"Maybe I don't want to. In fact, I find it quite nice here, perhaps I'll just stay."

"Suit yourself, I'll leave."

"Fine."

Drea felt tempted to yell 'Fine' right back at him. Instead she walked out of the door, down the hallway and out of the Common Room.

Everything had been going so smoothly, aside from the kiss. Even that hadn't been entirely bad. _In fact, it was quite good_, she thought before banishing the memory from her head. Once again Drea found herself angry with the blonde just when they had been getting comfortable.

* * *

Yay, I'm getting good at this whole updating thing! School is super stressful right now, but I have a week off so the next chapter should come soon. Wow, this was a long chapter. As a matter of fact it was... wow, almost 7000 words. Sweet! Anyway, review review review! 


	10. I have quirks

Kaleidoscope - Thanks so much for the reviews! Excellent feedback. As a matter of fact, yes, Draco is sketching Drea, kudos to you for catching that. As you'll notice from reading the next few chapters, there is quite a lot more Draco/Drea interaction, as the story focuses mainly on Drea's life and Draco becomes a big part of that.

Brianne - Thanks for not reviewing loser! Haha, just kidding, but seriously, review. It's great fun, I promise. :P

A/N: When I wrote this chapter, the 'hic' was in stars () so that you would realise that she isn't actually saying hic. However, when I updated it they ever-so-kindly removed my stars for me, therefore it now says thing like "I want hic some," which doesn't make any sense, so I felt that it would be prudent to let you know that those are hiccups marked in there. Please review if you read. Even if you don't really know what to say, it helps muchly if I know people are at least reading it.

* * *

Chapter Ten - I have quirks.

Drea, Chase, Xander and Christi had decided to go to a party rather than dressing up. Drea herself felt a little disappointed; she always looked forward to putting on a costume and becoming someone else, however this would be fun as well.

Xander got them out of the castle without a problem, as he was a Prefect. They rode their brooms, soaring high enough that they wouldn't be recognised by the people standing below.

Twenty minutes later, they landed outside of a huge house. The trees already had many roles of toilet paper hanging from their branches and the lawn was littered with red plastic beer cups. Drea looked at the house, an eyebrow raised sceptically. She wondered briefly if the party was over, as she heard no music or talking.

All of her scepticism was vanquished when Xander opened the door. Music was pounding, practically moving the floor beneath them. People were smiling, some of them stumbling around, clinging to people they barely knew. Chase and Christi walked away, shouting to some people across the room. Drea began to follow them, then realised that the people they were talking to were from Durmstrang. They weren't guests at Hogwarts, that was for sure. Drea knew them only because of their reputation for taking muggle drugs, skipping class, and being very loud supporters of Voldemort, although to her disgust, they still wouldn't say his name. She turned around and saw Xander watching her.

"What?" she asked playfully.

"Nothing, I just didn't know if we were going over or staying here. However, myself, I suggest we move away from the doorway," he finished with a smirk on his face, a small dimple forming on his cheek.

"I'd rather not join them, but I agree. Let's get drinks," she suggested.

"An excellent, if irresponsible plan."

"I meant soda," she said, trying to look disapproving.

"Sure you did," he answered sarcastically.

"I'm serious! I've never had alcohol."

Xander laughed, but Drea was unsure whether he was laughing because it was funny or because he didn't believe her. She followed him to the kitchen and poured herself some punch. He raised an eyebrow at her, taking a butterbeer from the fridge, using a spell to warm it up without heating the glass.

"Who else do you know that's here? We should mingle," he said after taking a swig from the bottle.

"Nobody worth talking to," she said sourly after scanning the crowd. "What about you?"

"That group of girls giggling in the corner, but I'm doubting that you want to talk to them."

"Excellent assumption," she said, wondering why they always used such stupid, large words around each other. She downed her cup and poured herself another, which she drank almost as quickly.

"Well," he started, scanning the crowd again. "The guys that were talking to Chase and Christi are watching them snog, and practically everyone else is following their example. Christi and Chase's, I mean," he added as an afterthought.

Drea made a face, pretending to be disgusted. Xander laughed and did a very convincing imitation of the couples, which made Drea giggle, something that she never did.

"Looks like we're on our own for the time being."

"Yup!" she agreed, much too cheerfully.

"So, what's happening with you and Draco?"

"Ugh, don't bring it up. We're fighting, yet again, over something that I can't even remember. Gods, I wish he would just grow up and stop being such a jerk." She stopped talking only because a hiccup interrupted her, then wondered vaguely why she was saying these things. She poured herself another drink, then faced Xander again. He looked a bit frustrated, angry even.

"If you think he's a jerk then why are you friends with him?" he said, asking a question that had been on his mind for quite some time.

"Because when he's not trying to hic impress people, he's actually quite tolerable."

"Well speak of the devil," Xander said, putting his empty bottle on the counter.

"Draco is not the Devil, Xander, he just doesn't hic understand himself sometimes," she said defensively.

"No, I meant that he just walked in the door. Drea, do you think maybe you've had enough… er… punch?" Xander asked slowly, watching her fill her cup again. She cocked her head to the side, wondering why he was talking to slowly, then caught sight of Draco and perked up.

"Great! Let's go talk to him! I'll bring him some hic punch!" she said, pouring another glass. She skipped over to where he was standing, surrounded by other Slytherins. She watched him shove Pansy off him nonchalantly, which made her burst into giggles again. "Draaaaaaaaaacooooooooooo!" she called in a singsong voice. "I hic brought you something!"

"Um… thanks, Drea," he said, taking the cup from her. She started another fit of laughter, which caused her to fall to the ground. She stood up awkwardly, pulling on Draco's arm for support.

"Your hair's real perty," she said, stroking his face.

"Drea, are you all right?" he asked in a concerned voice.

"Never been hic better! Have something to drink! It's really hic yummy!"

He cautiously took a drink from the cup, watching her the whole time. She nearly fell again, but this time Xander caught her.

"You are hic sooooo chivalrous!" she said to Xander, positioning herself on his lap.

"Drea, how much of this stuff have you had?" asked Draco.

"Um…" she said, counting on her fingers. "Five cups! Why?"

"Someone should take her back to the castle, she needs to sleep this off. Drea, have you ever had alcohol before?"

"Nope!" she said, wrapping her arms around the blonde.

"I'll take her," volunteered Blaise.

Draco glared menacingly at him, realising full well what Blaise would do with her. "Never mind, I'll take her. How did you guys get here, Birch?"

"Birch is a tree!" she shouted randomly.

"Very good, Drea. We rode brooms. What about you?"

"Same. I'm going to need your help getting her back, we'll have to hold onto her."

"Yeah, just let me tell Chase. I'll be back in a minute, okay Drea?"

"Ooooooooooooooooooooookay!" she said, hiccuping again.

"We're going to take you back to the school, okay Drea?" Draco said, crouching down to look at her.

"But we just hic got here!" she protested.

"We'll have our own party at Hogwarts," he said, knowing full well how to deal with a drunken person.

"Our own hic party…" she pondered it until Xander came back. "Yeah, okay!"

"Alright, let's get you outside. You can ride on my broom okay? Birch, I want you to stay close by in case she falls."

"Yeah, alright."

They walked out of the house, the pounding music becoming mute when the door closed.

"Alright Drea, climb on," said the blonde. She followed his instructions, clinging tightly to the broom. He climbed on behind her, putting his arms around her for security. He was warm and comfortable, and Drea relaxed into his arms. She barely noticed when they took off, but when they landed, she felt a sudden lurching in her stomach.

Drea felt sick but was too embarrassed to admit it. She had just gone from feeling ecstatically happy to feeling depressed.

"Okay, Drea, just take my arm. We're going to take you to bed, okay?"

"No…"

"Drea, you need to sleep this off. Drea, are you crying?" Xander asked her.

She sniffed loudly, then wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Why do I always have to be so damned emotional? It isn't as if someone died or anything!"

"Drea, you're drunk. You'll be okay in the morning, you just need rest."

Drea felt as though a little light bulb had gone off inside of her head. Of course! That explained everything; the crying, the giggling, the insufferable hiccups. "Take me to Professor Snape."

"I'm not sure that's such a great idea. He won't be too keen on the fact that you left the school without permission, never mind that you're drunk."

"He'll have potions to fix this. His anger, I can deal with. What I can't deal with is the nausea and the pounding in the back of my head." She watched the two boys look at each other sceptically, trying to communicate without saying anything. Drea, however, was now sober enough to recognize this. "Please," she said, trying to convince them.

"Yeah, alright," Xander finally answered.

"Have you completely lost your head?" Draco asked him. "Professor Snape is going to be furious! We can't let her handle him in this state."

"I have a feeling that she'll be okay."

"Alright," he said, obviously not believing that anyone could handle the Professor.

They walked into the school, the warmth enveloping them. Drea felt suffocated; she removed her coat faster than she'd ever done before, the boys watching curiously. When she was finished, they each took an arm and resumed the long walk to Professor Snape's private chambers.

Xander knocked on his door, knowing full well that the man was going to be angry. He always told his Prefects never to disturb him after 9:00, and quite frankly, Xander was afraid.

Professor Snape answered the door viciously, a snarl on his face. He took one look at Drea and the snarl disappeared.

"What happened here?" he asked menacingly.

"Sir, we were at a party and Drea was drinking what she thought was punch, and, well, it wasn't just punch. She requested we bring her here. She said you would have a potion or something, sir."

"Thank you for being honest, Mr Birch, although I do not remember giving any of you permission to leave the castle. I'll look after her. You may go."

"Thank you sir," they both said. Xander went back to the party to update Chase and Christi. Draco went upstairs to his room. He no longer felt like being out with his friends. He now felt like moping in his room, perhaps drawing, and thinking about Drea. She was such a confusing girl.

Perhaps this will clear things up between us, he allowed himself to think. Sighing, he said the password and walked into the Common Room. It was eerily quiet, and he wondered briefly if he was alone, then saw the mudblood girl and her brother talking quietly in the corner.

He suddenly felt angry, frustrated that he couldn't control his emotions, especially around a girl. Malfoys always had excellent control over themselves, why should one girl make a difference? He decided to take out his frustration on the pair.

"Hey mudblood, if I were to summon a magnet right now, would you stick to it, or would it not work because your metal was put there by muggles?" Draco knew that it wouldn't make a difference, but he couldn't think of anything better. Even he was feeling a bit off, and he'd only had half a glass of the stuff.

"Shove it, Malfoy. You've known for a long time that Candra no longer has braces, and even if she did, that gives you no reason to insult her like that," Jadon said, standing up in a threatening manner.

"You're right, the fact that she's a mudblood is reason enough," he said, walking into his Dorm. He no longer felt angry. He was glad that Drea hadn't walked in just then, she would have been furious. He sighed, lying down on his bed, watching the ceiling that never changed, yet always seemed so different.

* * *

Severus sat in his private chambers, drinking tea and reading over his notes. He still hadn't found the bloody mistake in his work and it was beginning to frustrate him. More than that, it was Hallowe'en, the Professor's least favourite holiday. It had once been a day where people respected the dead, and now it was simply an excuse to make loud noises and drink. 

The dark-haired Professor pushed back his chair from the table and walked to the bathroom. After washing his hands and splashing cold water on his face, he looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was the same as it had been at Hogwarts, his nose was still far too large, and his eyebrows still stuck out at every angle imaginable, yet he was a completely different person than he had once been. He sighed and walked to the kitchen with the intention of making a sandwich when he heard a knock on the door.

That was another reason he hated Hallowe'en. Nearly every year since he had begun teaching, at least one student decided that it would be funny to dress up and 'trick-or-treat' at his door.

He swung his door open with a force that surprised even him, a menacing snarl on his face. What he saw there was not at all what he had expected. Draco and Mr Birch were standing on either side of Ms Daray, holding her up. She looked as though she had been crying, and her eyes were full of shame, confusion and depression.

"What happened here?" he asked them, not allowing his expression to betray the fact that he actually felt bad for the girl.

"Sir, we were at a party and Drea was drinking what she thought was punch, and, well, it wasn't just punch. She requested we bring her here. She said you would have a potion or something, sir."

"Thank you for being honest, Mr Birch, although I do not remember giving any of you permission to leave the castle," he said, making sure that they knew that he was unimpressed. "I'll look after her. You may go."

"Thank you sir," they both said.

"Ms Daray, you may come in." He watched the girl attempt to walk properly, then was forced to help her when she nearly broke an end table. He led her to the couch and told her to lie down. He most certainly was not going to be easy on the girl. He could understand why she would want to blur her mind, but he knew from experience that it was only temporary relief. The pain that followed was worse than it had been before, due to the fact that one had had a brief respite.

"Before I decide whether or I not I should even help you, I must ask why you felt that it was necessary to drink yourself into a stupor."

"I didn't mean to, sir."

"Ms Daray, do not attempt to tell me that you are not aware of how much alcohol the human body can handle. You've obviously had far too much to drink. I'm actually quite surprised that you haven't passed out yet."

"I didn't know that there was alcohol in it, sir. I've also never had alcohol before, so it probably affected me more than it would others."

Severus raised an eyebrow. He could see in her eyes, despite the fact that they were unfocussed, that she was telling the truth. She was probably the only Slytherin, and possibly one of the only students, who had never been drunk, never mind consumed alcohol. He felt a small amount of pity for her, however his hatred for alcohol consumption overwhelmed the feeling.

"Although I believe you in this matter, I refuse to give you an immediate escape. It was your choice to drink, however innocent you were in the matter, and you have to deal with the consequences. I have another potion that may help you; it will put you into an undisturbed sleep until your blood is clear. However, before it can affect your mind, it has to clear it of the uppermost thoughts, which will probably be voiced. Are you willing to do this, Ms Daray?"

"Anything to stop the bloody pain," she said, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"I'll be back in a moment," he said. Before leaving he made sure that she was all right, then walked to the Potions room, which contained most of his less potent potions. He took a bottle of dull yellow potion from the shelf and made sure that it was still pure. He hadn't used for a long time, due to the fact that most students went immediately to Madam Pomphrey. His inspection was interrupted by the sound of Ms Daray shouting in his chambers.

He ran back to his room and found Ms Daray on the floor crying and pounding her fists against it, shouting.

"Ms Daray, please calm down. Tell me what the problem is," he said, realising that he was dealing with something worse than alcohol.

"The damned merry-go-round won't stop and I want to get off!"

Hallucinations. Not a good sign, he thought to himself.

"Why are they all laughing? I didn't agree to this. I never asked for this pain," she said with desperation, clutching her left arm. Her eyes opened, focussing exactly on the Professor's. "Make it stop. I don't want to be like them."

Physical pain as well.

"Who, Ms Daray? Who don't you want to be like?"

Ms Daray looked frantically at the ceiling, as though frightened that someone was hiding there.

"The mark. It's there, I can see it. It's watching me. They want to take me. I won't go! I won't!" she screamed frantically, clutching to Severus' arm.

"Ms Daray, there's nobody here except for us."

"Mom, stop! Why are you doing this to yourself? He'll never take you back, you know it!"

I need a sample of that drink; otherwise I won't be able to help her.

Severus walked to his desk, fully aware that Ms Daray was still screaming. He quickly wrote a note to Draco, hoping that he was still sober enough to realise that this was serious. He told his golden-feathered owl, Kaida, to find him immediately, then returned to where Ms Daray was still laying on the floor, crying hysterically now. He had never encountered anything like this, and was quite unsure how to deal with it. He was horrible with emotions to begin with, and although the seemingly random phrasing coming from the girl's mouth meant nothing to him, he guessed that they had something to do with her life.

"I told you not to touch me! You have to leave. Now!" she shouted, pushing him away from her. She huddled under a coffee table, giving Severus the distinct impression that she could see despite the hallucinations.

"I told you, Draco, that giving your trust to someone only gave them the chance to break it. Why'd you have to prove me right? Why can't you just… be you?" she said sadly. Severus accepted the change from frantic screaming to sad remembrance, although he was confused. Had it not been Draco who had had his heart broken?

"Dad, no! Oh my Gods, no, don't leave me. What'll I do without you? Where will I go? Dad, please. Please be okay," she sobbed, wiping her tears from her face.

"Severus, I came as quickly as I could. What's happened? Is it Drea?" Draco said, panting.

"Stay with her. I'll return in a moment," Severus said shortly, taking the vial from Draco and walking to the door. "By the way, she's having hallucinations. I trust you know how to deal with that," he said, giving Draco a meaningful stare.

"Yes sir."

"Good," Severus said, walking to the Potions room. He observed the drink, which had settled, making it easy to see that it contained something other than the alcohol and the actual beverage.

He first boiled out the alcohol, taking care not to lose any of the precipitate in the bottom. Next he got rid of the water, then carefully strained the pulp from the concoction. He found that he had a blue precipitate in a yellow liquid, something that he could recognise but not quite place. He hoped that he had taught it to Draco and walked quickly back to his chambers.

"Draco, do you recognise this poison?" he asked hurriedly. He waited impatiently for Draco to wipe his eyes, tapping his foot.

"I'm not sure what the name was, but that's one of the poisons that you taught me this summer. It's used to cause hallucinations, almost like a muggle drug, but when mixed with alcohol it becomes lethal and causes hallucinations based on events in the person's life. It can also cause the infected person to see into the future. They often see their own death, which causes them to go loony and almost certainly commit suicide. Why, Severus, what's wrong?" he asked, seeing the man's face go pale.

"Draco, are you capable of staying with Ms Daray?" he asked, knowing that the boy would say yes.

"Of course sir, but where did you get that poison from. That isn't… what she consumed?" he asked.

"I need you to write a letter to Mr Birch. Inform him that the beverage that Ms Daray was drinking is lethal and that it is to be vanquished immediately. Anyone who has consumed it needs to inform a nurse or doctor. Make sure that Ms Daray stays calm, I'll be back in 20 minutes," he said, running from the room.

Severus prepared the antidote as quickly as he could, but a potion still needed time to heat, or in this case, cool down. Taken as a liquid, it could kill the person instantly. As a solid, it would put the person into a deep sleep. He could then administer the second antidote, which he already had prepared, and would rid her body of the poison. He only hoped that there was enough time.

* * *

Draco drifted off into sleep only to be woken up by Professor Snape's owl. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, taking the parchment from the owl's leg. 

Draco,

I need a sample of the drink that Ms Daray consumed as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence, make haste.

Severus

Draco began to panic, wondering what was wrong. Surely Drea was just drunk, he'd had some of the beverage and he felt fine. He grabbed his broomstick from beside his bed and jumped onto it. He rode it through the school and was almost stopped by Professor McGonagall, but ignored her warnings to dismount immediately, promising to explain later.

He ran into the house, pushing past anyone who was in his way. He quickly filled the vial that he'd brought with him at the last moment, corked it, then sprinted to the door.

"Draco, how's Drea feeling?" Birch called from across the room.

"I'm not sure," he called back, rushing for his broom. His mind was racing, trying to remember the last thing he'd said to Drea before tonight. They'd had an argument, only he wasn't sure what it had been about. He dismounted his broom when he arrived at the school, running to the Professor's private chambers.

"Severus, I came as quickly as I could. What's happened? Is it Drea?" Draco said frantically, searching for any sign of the girl. He found her crying on the Professor's floor.

"Stay with her. I'll return in a moment," Severus said shortly, taking the vial from Draco and walking to the door. "By the way, she's having hallucinations. I trust you know how to deal with that," he said, giving Draco a meaningful stare.

"Yes sir," he said, knowing full well how do deal with hallucinations. He'd had training with Severus during the summer, as well as taking care of his mother when she was drunk.

"Good."

Draco crawled to the girl, unsure whether to touch her or not. She was on her knees, pleading incomprehensively to the rug. He wished she would say something that he could recognize; at least then he'd know how to react.

His wish came true moments later, although it was quite unlike what he'd expected.

"Draco, they're coming. My parents, they want me to become a Death Eater. I need your help," she said, looking straight into his eyes.

"Drea?" he asked hopefully, confused but hoping that her hallucinations had stopped. He realised that this was not the case, as she was looking frantically around the room, searching for something that wouldn't be found. He put his arms around her, letting her know what he was there. "I'll help you, I promise," he whispered to her, wishing that she could hear him. He'd found that touch, but not sound, could have an effect on a hallucinating person, however it made him feel more comfortable to speak to her.

"Harry Potter!" she shouted suddenly, sounding ecstatic. Draco frowned and knitted his eyebrows together. Despite the fact that she was hallucinating, he still felt jealous of the attention.

"Why are you so bloody annoying? I don't want to be with you, can't you understand that?" she shouted at him, pushing him away from her. He was so shocked, so utterly hurt that tears welled up in his eyes. He normally would not have allowed himself to cry, but he was alone and was emotionally unbalanced.

"Draco, do you recognise this poison?" Severus asked, walking briskly into the room. Draco quickly wiped his eyes, ashamed at his weakness, then turned to the Professor. He vaguely recognised the potion, but could not put a name to it. He only hoped that that was enough.

"I'm not sure what the name was, but that's one of the poisons that you taught me this summer. It's used to cause hallucinations, almost like a muggle drug, but when mixed with alcohol it becomes lethal and causes hallucinations based on events in the person's life. It can also cause the infected person to see into the future. They often see their own death, which causes them to go loony and sometimes commit suicide. Why, Severus, what's wrong?" he asked, seeing the man's face go pale.

"Draco, are you capable of staying with Ms Daray?" he asked.

"Of course sir, but where did you get that poison from. That isn't… what she consumed?" he asked, petrified now. He was not about to lose one of the only people that he cared for, and the only person that he trusted save the Professor himself.

"I need you to write a letter to Mr Birch. Inform him that the drink that Ms Daray was drinking is lethal and that it is to be vanquished immediately. Anyone who has consumed it needs to inform a nurse or doctor. Make sure that Ms Daray stays calm, I'll be back in 20 minutes," he said, running from the room.

Draco grabbed a scroll of parchment from the kitchen table and wrote a quick note to Birch. He attached it to Kaida's leg and sent her away, then quickly ran to Drea. She was crying again, clawing at a table leg. She scratched the wood until the varnish was completely gone, deep enough that the staining was no longer there.

"It's not true! It can't be! I trusted you! I… I trusted you…" she sobbed. Draco risked taking her hand, enveloping it in his own. Her fingertips were bleeding, her fingernails inexistant. She bawled into his arms, eventually wearing herself out to the point where she could hardly breathe, but there was nothing that he could do about it. She relaxed against his chest and he wondered frantically if she'd passed out, but she'd only closed her eyes. Her arms tightened around his waist and she pressed her cheek against him. He felt guilty that he was getting happiness from this moment, but it was everything that he'd wanted for the past two months. He rested his chin on her head and rubbed her back, making sure that her lungs were relaxing enough to allow proper breathing.

"Lie her on the couch," Professor Snape commanded, probably more forcefully than he had meant to. Draco obeyed, laying Drea out as smoothly as he could. He didn't want to disturb her now that she had found what he hoped was peace.

The dark-haired man that Draco had always admired now wrinkled his forehead, causing him to appear much older than he was. He opened Drea's mouth and forced a small, green pill down her throat. She began to choke on it, but he poured what Draco assumed was water into her mouth and closed it until her body forced her to swallow it. She relaxed almost immediately, the muscles in her body becoming slack. He watched as her eyes stopped moving behind their lids, and continued until nothing was left of her tears but the salt on her cheeks.

"What happened, Severus?" he asked finally.

"I gave her a potion to calm her mind. The one that I had originally planned on giving her reacts poorly with the poison, potentially making it more lethal. After five minutes, I can give her this potion, which will counter the poison. She'll be completely healed in a couple of days."

* * *

"Sir, she… she said some things while you were gone. I'm not sure if they have any reason to them, but perhaps you'd like you hear them anyway."  
"Of course, Draco. I'm sure she'll want to know what she said when she wakes up. Come have a seat," he said, walking to the kitchen table. 

"Sir, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather stay here."

"It's your choice. What did she say?"

"She said something about her parents coming and wanting her to become and Death Eater and that she needed my help. She looked right at me, I could have sworn she was conscious."

"Yes, it was as though she could see her surroundings despite the hallucinations. Did she say anything else?" he asked, wondering for the second time whether she knew that her parents truly were Death Eaters or not.

"Yes, she shouted 'Harry Potter' in a rather cheery manner, then told me that I was annoying and why couldn't I understand that she didn't want to be with me," he said, hoping that he was remaining quite emotionless. He knew that the Professor had seen him crying, but hoped to make up for it by staying strong now.

"Did she specifically say that to you, or did she simply say it at you?"

"Er… well, I suppose she said it at me. She pushed me away from her. I never really considered that she could be talking to someone else."

Severus got up from the table and administered the potion, then sat down again.

"I ask because she did the same thing to me," he explained. "She said that she'd told me not to touch her, which she most certainly did not." Draco smirked, imagining for a moment that Drea had actually said such a thing. "Of course," the Professor continued, "She has never had reason to tell me that," he finished, managing to raise an eyebrow and scowl at the boy at the same time. "Anything else?"

"You may have noticed that the leg of your table is scratched," he began.

"Which one?" the man asked, glancing at the kitchen table. It was one of his personal favourites and was not pleased when he heard this.

"The table in here, sir. The right leg there, do you see it? Anyway, she scratched her fingertips raw while screaming 'It's not true, I trusted you' or something of the sort. That's all I could understand sir, and then she relaxed. Sir, why did she react like this? I mean, she should have been dead, should she not have?" he asked curiously.

"Draco, do you believe in fate?" the man asked, hoping to find a way to explain the potion.

"Not really sir," Draco said sceptically.

"Pretend for a moment that you do. Now, you said that most people see themselves dying and commit suicide, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Perhaps Ms Daray did not see her own death because the gods aren't yet finished with her. Had she seen her death, she probably would have destroyed herself, which she did not, leading me to believe that she may have seen other aspects of her future. Aside from after she calmed down, did you touch her at all?"

"Er…yes sir," Draco said, blushing a bit. It didn't always try to control his emotions around the man, as they'd known each other since Draco had been but a boy.

"It's possible that this contact may have affected her hallucinations enough to keep her from seeing her death. Together we may have saved her life, even before I administered the potions."

Draco looked lost in thought, staring silently at the man. He then turned to Drea and observed her, making sure that she was all right.

"You should get to bed, Draco. I'll let you know when she wakes up."

"Thank you, sir. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"You know, Draco, I just might. There's quite a bit about me that you don't know."

"Like what?" the blonde asked, knowing that he was invading the man's privacy.

"For one, I do have feelings. I know what it's like to lose, or to nearly lose someone that you care for. For another, I have quirks," he added, hoping to throw the boy off-guard.

"Like how you take 13 steps every time you answer the door?" Draco asked, smirking.

Severus stared at the boy, wondering how he'd come to realise this. "Yes, like how I take 13 steps every time I answer my door. Go to bed," he finished gruffly.

"Good night, sir."

"Good night."


	11. Silver Satin Sheets

Thanks to Bree, Captain-Ammie, TessaCilory and Sage and Snape for their very positive and supportive reviews. This chapter took me forever because the first time I wrote it, I hated it. Sorry for the wait.

* * *

Chapter 11 - Silver Satin Sheets

Severus woke up suddenly in a large, navy blue chair, facing Ms Daray. He was sweating fiercely, cold moisture clinging to his body. He blinked rapidly, making sense of the situation, then walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower. He wasn't expecting Ms Daray to wake up anytime within the next 24, possibly 36 hours. He climbed into the shower and let the hot water splash against his face, washing away the sweat. However, it didn't wash away the feeling of dread that had come from his dream. He knew that he would have to see the Dark Lord again soon, but that wasn't what worried him. Facing Mr Harrow and Ms Daray, knowing what they'd done, would be far more difficult than leading the Dark Lord to believe that he was a loyal Death Eater. He couldn't believe that they would leave their child in the care of another human being. He only hoped that this Demetri character was a decent man.

He wondered whether he should inform Albus about her parents or not, but decided against it. He could deal with this better than the man could. As wise as he sometimes was, Albus had no idea what it was like to have Death Eaters for parents, and therefore would not know how to deal with the girl.

He sighed and turned off the shower, wrapped himself in a towel and walked to his room. The silver satin sheets practically begged him to join them, but he refused and dressed quickly, lest he succumb to their temptation. He glanced at the notes covering his table, frowned slightly, then began preparing his breakfast. It was only 5:30, but his stomach was growling and he didn't trust himself to go back to sleep. He quickly cooked his eggs, covered them in salt, and burnt his toast. He threw the toast into the garbage and walked back to his favorite chair, watching Ms Daray. She breathed irregularly but calmly, her eyes still. She changed her position every once in a while, but aside from that she made no sound.

At twenty after nine, Severus heard a knock on the door. He was feeling rather cranky as he'd only gotten four hours of sleep. He sighed loudly and walked to the door, then opened it and let Draco in without even glancing at him.

Draco nodded to him, then walked into the living room and on the floor beside Drea. He sat there, just watching her for an hour, then finally stood up and sat at the table beside Severus.

"She's going to be alright, isn't she?" he asked finally.

Severus stared into the boy's eyes, trying to decide what to say. "Physically, the poison will be out of her body by this evening. Emotionally, I'm not sure how she'll deal with what she's been through. It's very possible that she'll come out unscathed, forgetting everything that she saw. It is equally possible that although she won't die, she will no longer be able to cope with her life, knowing what is to come. It may take her days, weeks, perhaps even years to learn to live again."

Draco pondered this for a moment, then asked, "Is there any possibility that she'll lose memories from before?"

"There's always that possibility, no matter what happens, however the poison, as well as the antidotes do not increase the risk. You should stop worrying, Draco," he said soothingly, although he himself was a bit concerned. "What happens will happen, and no amount of worrying will change that."

"I know sir, it's just that… she's the only real friend that I've got. She has this way of letting me know what she understands without saying anything, even when she's mad at me. Gods she's mad at me a lot." Draco paused here, lost in thought. Severus cocked his head slightly, observing the boy. He'd truly changed in the past few years.

"Sir…can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Draco, as long as it doesn't concern me," he said with a half-smile.

"It's a bit strange," he said hesitantly.

"It's up to you Draco. You know that I won't force you into anything that you don't want to do."

"Do you think I'm a…" Draco paused here, as the word was unfamiliar to him. "Jerk?"

Severus paused now, thinking back on the blonde's past. True, he sometimes acted obnoxiously around new people. He was also quite prejudice against non-purebloods, and was very vocal about it. Behind all that, he was a very mature, understanding, and from what Severus had seen lately, caring person who was learning who he was.

"At times," he said shortly, waiting for the question he was sure would follow.

"What can I do to stop?"

Severus was once again shocked. He had been expecting Draco to ask him why, not how he could change.

"I'm not sure I'm the person you should be asking," he said, taking a look at his own image. He was a single 36-year-old man with no friends and no family. He treated his students poorly, he trusted no one. The only thing he had left was his ambitions, and lately even those had been lacking.

"I am," Draco said, looking up at the man with nothing less than admiration.

"If you're sure you want to ask me this, be prepared for complete, blunt honesty."

"It's one of the reasons I respect you most, sir."

Severus sighed. He'd hoped that Draco would give up, but it seemed as though he'd only increased his desire to change. "First, you need to stop acting like you're better than everyone. Second, you need to stop putting non-pureblooded people down; it makes you look arrogant. Last, you need to convince yourself that other people's opinions don't matter. Actually, the way you do your hair doesn't help either," he added after a pause.

Draco sat in silence, staring at a knot in the table. Finally he spoke.

"I think my hair looks good," he said pathetically, apparently at a loss for what to say. "And mudbloods get only what they deserve."

Severus stood up, slamming his palms on the table. He put his face right in front of Draco and spoke is a dangerously deep voice.

"You're acting like your father. It's no fault of theirs that one of their parents happened to be a muggle. Have you learned nothing from your father's experience?" he hissed.

The boy stood up furiously. "I'm leaving," he said, pushing his chair in forcefully.

"Sit down."

Draco glared at Severus, daring him to say something else, then left the room. Severus stared silently at the door, then went back to reading his papers. Ms Daray shifted on the couch and moaned softly, forcing him to get up and make sure that she was still okay.

She was dreaming again, a sign that the potion was wearing off. Her eyes darted wildly, looking this way and that, but she looked peaceful and he was confident that she was fine.

It was too early for lunch, but for lack of anything better to do, Severus walked down to the Great Hall. He ate quickly, worried that Ms Daray would wake up while he was gone, which could make the difference between her being fine and being terrified and doing something drastic. After the last thought, he stood up and walked briskly out of the Hall, vaguely aware that someone was behind him. He let the person follow him down to the dungeon corridors, then turned around to confront them.

He was surprised by who he saw there. He had been expecting Moody, or possibly Karkaroff because of the feeling of dread that he felt, but he instantly realized that his feeling was for a different reason. Professor Trelawny stood in front of him, her huge glasses magnifying her eyes, which were already larger than normal, as she seemed to be surprised.

"You seem bothered, Severus," she said in her airy, slow voice. It was Severus' turn to be surprised, as she was right for the first time.

"I'm fine, Professor, thank you for your concern," he said with a slight sneer, though he kept it to a minimum.

"What troubles you?" she asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He nearly pushed her hand away, but couldn't summon the energy to do so. Instead, he turned away slowly and walked down the corridor, knowing that she would follow. He wondered with amusement what she would do if he were to actually tell her. He thought of a sarcastic comment, then remembered what he'd realized while talking to Draco. The realization had affected him more than he had thought, and for a moment he stalled.

"One of my students fell ill last night and I'm not sure if she's going to recover fully," he said, telling her the truth without giving away too much information. Professor Trelawny missed a step, then quickened her pace to keep up with the long strides that Severus was taking.

"I sensed an illness," she said sympathetically, though Severus could tell that she was lying. "The Inner Eye can be both a curse and a blessing," she said, nodding and patting his shoulder again.

This time Severus shrugged her off casually then stopped in front of his door. "My student requires attention," he said, knowing that she wouldn't take the hint. She never did.

"Of course, Severus," she began, not moving from her spot. "If you ever need a prediction, or if ever you have a free eve-"

"Thank you, Professor Trelawny," he said much too quickly, walking into his chambers and closing the door. He leaned against it, sighing deeply, then walked to the living room to mind Ms Daray.

He crouched down to her level and noticed a bit of drool on her face. He quickly scanned his sofa to be sure that it wasn't on it, then wiped her mouth and closed it. He smiled sadly, remembering the time he had almost killed himself because he had drank so much alcohol. It hadn't been intentional, but his father had seemed to think that adding physical pain to match his emotional pain would cause him to stop.

He sighed again, then stood up and walked to the table. He began to read, but was so suddenly overwhelmed with emotion that he threw the parchments onto the floor and put his elbows on the table, head in his hands. His fingers curled tightly around large chunks of his hair until he couldn't stand the pressure anymore and threw his teacup against the wall.

* * *

The sound of shattering porcelain brought Drea from her peaceful sleep. She opened her eyes lazily, but instead of the dark green walls of her Dorm, she saw deep, almost velvety red walls. She then realized that she wasn't even in a bed, she was on a sofa, which was a warm dark brown, almost the colour of mahogany, and was strangely comfortable. She sat up slowly, noticing all the colours that she'd never bothered to look at before, then realized that there was a man sitting at table in what appeared to be a kitchen. She paused for a moment, watching him watch her, then recognized him. It was Professor Snape, who now cocked his head slightly, then stood up and walked toward her.

_These must be his private chambers,_ she thought to herself. She vaguely wondered what had happened that she would find herself here, then remembered Halloween night. _I must have been more drunk than I thought,_ she said to herself, wondering why she hadn't simply slept it off.

"How are you feeling Ms Daray?" the Professor asked her slowly, crouching down to look her in the eyes.

"I'm fine… actually, I think I'm going to be sick," she said, her stomach lurching suddenly. "May I use your washroom, sir?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. Go through the kitchen and turn left. It will be the third door to your left," he explained, leading her there anyway. She thanked him quickly, then walked into the room, closed the door, and threw up.

While she was washing her hands, she took in the bathroom. It was enormous; nearly three times the size of her bedroom at home. It had both a shower and a tub, the latter of which was built into the floor and the size of a large hot tub. Those things she took in within seconds, but noticing the colours took her several minutes. The room was painted sage green with dark green accents. The walls appeared to have been sponged over in several shades, both lighter and darker than the base. The tiles on the floor were white with the occasional fleck of green, which fascinated her more than it should have. She closed her eyes and shook her head, then opened the door and walked back to the kitchen.

There, Professor Snape was picking up his parchments and arranging them neatly on the table. Bits of porcelain still littered the floor, stained brown and green. She focussed her attention on the Professor, not wanting to get absorbed in the colours again, and, with her eyes, asked him what she should do.

He motioned to the sofa and faintly muttered something, then joined her in the living room. He sat in a brown chair, facing her. He took a breath, as though he was going to say something, then stopped and steepled his fingers, sinking back into the chair.

"Sir, I'm sorry that I was such a bother. I really didn't know that it was alcoholic," she said, assuming that this was what he had wanted to talk to her about.

"Ms Daray, the beverage that you consumed was not only alcoholic, it was poisoned. It contained uzinieren, a poison that, alone, has a drug-like effect on the mind, but when mixed with alcohol, causes wild hallucinations, often containing visions of the person's death. Judging by your state of calm, I am assuming that his was not the case with you."

He paused, allowing the information to sink in. She had learned about this poison at Durmstrang, but had never imagined herself taking it.

"Ms Daray, do you remember anything that you saw?" he asked patiently.

"No sir, I… wait, yes I do. I was on a merry-go-round. Everything was fine until it picked up speed. It was at this moment that I realized that my father was leaving. I tried to get off, tried to tell my father not to go, but the ride wouldn't stop and he left. Strangely enough, this exact thing happened to me, only it happened when I was 2, not 12 or 13, like in the vision, therefore I didn't realize that my father had left."

"Anything else, Ms Daray?"

She hesitated here, wondering how much she could tell the man. She decided that no matter what she said, she could trust him to keep it to himself.

"I was in a dark room, surrounded by Death Eaters. I was eight, and they were laughing at me. The Dark Mark was there as well, watching me from the ceiling, though every time I looked at it, it disappeared and reappeared elsewhere."

"Ms Daray, I need to ask you a very personal question," he said seriously, wringing his hands. "How much do you know about your birth parents?"

"Sir, what do you mean?" she asked in a confused voice, though she knew exactly what he wanted to know.

"I'm going to tell you something that you may or may not know." He paused and took a deep breath. "Your parents are well-known Death Eaters. They work for the Dark Lord by their own free will."

"I know sir," she said bowing her head. She considered asking him how he knew such things, but decided that that was his business. She finally knew that she could trust this man with anything. He obviously trusted her enough to know that she wouldn't be following that path, because if he didn't, he would have surely told someone about her parents and immediate action would have been taken. "I saw something else, sir. It was a memory, as were the others. My mother was packing. She was going to find my father and become a Death Eater, even though she knew he wouldn't take her back." She kept her head low, averting her eyes even though she knew that she could block him from sensing anything from them. "That's all I can remember, sir."

She looked up and saw him staring intently at her. She suddenly felt very ashamed, even though she knew that it wasn't her fault that her parents were that way. A tear trickled down her cheek, followed by several others, and within seconds she was crying openly, though silently. The Professor watched her hesitantly, as though unsure of how to react in this situation. "I'll be fine, sir, I just need a moment," she reassured him. He still looked unsettled, though, therefore she walked to the bathroom and washed her face, drank a glass of water, and took a few deep breaths. Once she was calm, she walked back to the living room, where Professor Snape was still sitting in his chair, staring into space.

"Sir, am I going to be alright?" she asked, knowing that she would.

"That's really to be seen, Ms Daray, but the poison is now completely out of your body. As long as you remain emotionally stable, you should be fine."

"I know this seems a bit strange, but I'm really curious. Which potion did you choose to administer? I know several combinations, but none containing all the reactions that I had," she asked, trying to take her mind off of her past.

"I had planned on giving you a sleeping drought, but it would have reacted poorly with the poison, therefore was forced to give you another poison. I gave you the poison in solid form, which slowed down the rate at which your blood absorbed it, putting you into a deep sleep, rather than killing you. The second potion was simply the antidote for the poison, which drew the poison from your bloodstream into your stomach where it could do no harm, hence the vomiting when you awoke," he explained.

"Ah, that makes sense then."

"I told Mr Malfoy that I would inform him when you woke up," he said after a brief pause. "Would now be a convenient time, or would you rather wait?" he asked, a slightly bitter tone in his voice.

"Now would be fine, sir," she answered. "How long will I be here before I can go back to my dorm?"

"I would like you to stay another night, just to be sure that your body is functioning properly and that your dreams aren't too disturbing," he answered, walking to the table and taking out a piece of parchment. He attached the parchment to a beautiful owl and told her to find Draco. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Just a little sir. What time is it? I could eat in the Great Hall. I don't want to bother you any more than I already have."

"Dinner will be served in an hour and a half. Would you like something to hold you until then?"

"Do you have hot chocolate?" she asked. She had a sudden craving a pickle and cheese sandwich as well, but thought that that might be too strange a request.

"Of course," he said, using a spell to produce a teapot of hot milk. He added cocoa and a large spoonful of sugar and mixed it carefully, then brought it to the table. "If you don't mind, I have a slight craving for popcorn," he said, a quirky smile appearing on his face.

"Not at all, sir," she said, thinking again of her sandwich. The Professor put a large, metal bucket with a lid and a handle onto the stove and added oil, salt and kernels of corn, which intrigued Drea enough to forget about the crunchy fruits.

"What is that, sir?" she asked.

"It's a machine that muggles used to use to make popcorn. I've tried other methods, but this by far the most delicious," he answered. The kernels began to pop, causing too much noise for further conversation. Drea heard a knock on the door and looked at Professor, expecting him to answer it. Instead, he looked back at her and gestured toward the door. She rose hesitantly, then answered it.

Draco stood there, obviously surprised to see her answering the door. She smiled shortly and walked back to the table, followed by Draco, who looked at her strangely.

"You look a lot better," he said, tucking his hands into his pockets. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling a lot better. Thanks for bring me here," she answered. She wondered why each sentence was followed by a second's pause, then remembered their argument. "Sorry for the way I acted at the party."

"It's alright, you didn't know what you were doing anyway," Draco said, another moment of silence following it. Professor Snape eyed them curiously from the stove where the popcorn had finished popping. He was pouring into a huge Slytherin-green bowl.

Draco turned to see what Drea was looking at. "You still have that, sir?" he asked, surprised again.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" he asked, taking a seat at the table.

"It's just so old," he began. Drea wondered how Draco would know that, then realized that there must be more to their relationship than she'd seen so far. "I bought that for you when I was six."

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow, then stood up. "Sir, may I go for a walk?" Drea asked, hoping that escaping the Professor would clear up some of the awkwardness between her and Draco.

"I suppose so. I would like to speak with you before dinner, so don't be long," he said.

"Thank you sir."

* * *

"You guys have known each other for a long time, I take it?" Drea asked, shoving her hands into her pockets. They walked down to the lake by mutual silent agreement.

"He saw me before my father did," he said bitterly. "My father was away when my mother went into labor, and getting back takes time, but I still hate him for it."

Drea nodded, not knowing what she could say. She stared at a knot in a tree, observing its shape and color. She finally couldn't stand the silence anymore and began to speak, but was cut off by Draco.

"This is ridiculous, but do you remember what we were arguing about the other day?"

"Not really. Do you?"

"No," he admitted.

"Sorry for calling you a jerk."

"Don't be, I am a jerk."

"That doesn't matter. I still shouldn't have said it. I just don't understand why you change so much." Drea expected an explanation after this, but never got it.

"I was really worried about you last night. We all were. You were acting really strangely, and you said some things…"

"What did I say?" she asked, furrowing her brow. Professor Snape hadn't mentioned anything like this.

"It's not important, never mind."

"I want to know," she insisted, hoping to find out if the boy knew about her parents. Her suspicions were confirmed when he finally spoke.

"You mentioned something about your parents wanting you to be a Death Eater, and something about not wanting to be with me. You also began shouting about trusting someone," he said as flatly as he could, sitting down on the grass.

"I don't remember any of that," she replied, keeping her own voice as neutral as possible.

"It's alright, it doesn't matter anyway."

"If it didn't matter, you wouldn't have mentioned it. I didn't mean what I said. I didn't even realize that I was saying it, how could I?" she asked rhetorically, slightly irritated, then sat on a large rock.

"Don't worry about it, I understand. So you don't remember anything?"

"I saw some memories of my life, but that's all," she said, trying not to give too much away, but also trying not to entice more questions. "Are we still fighting?" she asked, drawing the attention away from her experience. Draco shrugged. "Good, I hate being upset with people."

They spent the next hour discussing meaningless things, the awkwardness seeping away slowly until it was almost, but not completely, gone.

Drea finally stood up and wiped herself off. "I should be getting back."

"Yeah, probably. Snape doesn't like it much when people are late, and it's quite obvious that he didn't sleep last night, which makes him more even more irritable than usual." Draco said this without a smile, which surprised Drea. She was realizing, little by little, that Draco knew the man quite well.

"Bye," she said when the reached the huge wooden door that led to Professor Snape's private chambers.

She closed and the door and was overcome with fatigue. She went to the table and rested her head on it. She closed her eyes, and opened them only when Professor Snape cleared his throat impatiently.

"After dinner I'd like you to collect any homework that you haven't completed, then return here."

"Yes sir."

"If you finish your work and I haven't yet returned, you may go through my notes or read any of the books on the two left-most bookshelves."

"Is that even a word?" she asked tiredly without thinking.

"Left-most? It's quite unlikely, but the point of language is the communication of a thought, not the words themselves. If you understood what I meant, then the words that I used don't matter. Popcorn, Ms Daray?" he said, offering her the bowl, which was still half full.

"You really are a strange man, aren't you?" she asked with a smile, taking a handful of the stuff.

"You can't imagine," he answered with a smirk.


	12. The Feeling Is Mutual

Yes, I am extremely aware that the choosing of the school champions took place on Saturday, however for the purposes of my fic, it happens on Sunday.

**Mysterious-mists**: Hey my home-skillet. Teeheehee… yeah anyways, I found some of your comments a bit harsh, but all-around useful. I figure that you should just stop reading it because if you're not interested in it, well then there's no point in reading it. I think the reason that you aren't enjoying it is because it's a relationship-based fic, where the climaxes so far are based on relationships, not on actual events. As we learn more about Drea's family and such, event-based climaxes will happen more frequently, but until something like that does begin to happen, don't bother. Thanks for reviewing! Muah!

**Captain-Ammie**: Another smashing review, thanks so much! I'm glad that twist caught your attention, as it is one of the defining points of Draco's character, which we'll begin to see later on. I was reading through your profile and I noticed that you're in taekwon do too! Yay! I'm a red belt, which is pretty sweet so far. Really nervous about black belt testing, (which is about two years away…) but also really excited. How often do you practice?

**TessaCilory**: Glad I've kept you interested so far. Thanks for the review.

**Kaleidoscope**: I was once practicing my spelling while I was babysitting (don't ask) and I had to try to spell "Kaleidoscope" three times before I got a skittle. Just a random comment, thought you might appreciate that…lol. Anyway, wow, lots of reviews, which I appreciate greatly. I shall respond to each one individually.

Ch 1: Yeah, Snape's pretty immature in my fic, which I think is great, personally. I mean, he's a very mature person who's been through a lot, but I think that the way he treats Gryffindors in the book is very immature so I thought I'd keep the tradition going. Not giving away anything on how she affects his life, sorry!

Ch 2: Yeah, I hate Pansy. She's a pirate wench (don't ask.) I just ate a really spicy chicken wing and it's burning my mouth, but also cleared up my sinuses, which is nice.

Ch 3: Yeah, actually, Draco is sketching Drea. Congrats on being the only person to ask that! It was meant to show the early signs of his infatuation with her, which develops into an actual caring for her.

Ch 5: Yeah, I also really really hate Hermione/Draco fics. That is one of the only ones out there that I just don't get. I mean, Snape/Hermione ones are just sick, but in a way they can make sense, but making Draco like Hermione is just SO OOC that it makes me want to puke.

Ch 7: Yeah, Draco's cool AND sexy. Nice combination, if I do say so myself. Glad you caught the disgusting/disgusted looks reference. I was really hoping that someone would (and also wondering if it made sense to anyone but myself…)

Ch 9: Yeah… I say 'Yeah' a lot.

Ch 11: Glad you enjoyed it. I like some of the interaction in this chapter, but still not sure if I'm satisfied with the result…

**Kerichi**: Super reviews! As with Kaleidoscope, I'll deal with each one individually.

Ch 1: Thanks for the awesome tip! I changed it almost right away, I've never realized that they worked it that way! Thanks for the very positive comments.

Ch 2: I like Buffy. I'm sad it's over. But yeah, Xander is quite a bit like Xander, although not as dense. Being dense isn't bad, but it's not Xander. The Xander in my fic, not on Buffy. That's gotta be one of the most confusing things that I have ever written…hmm. Anyhow, Drea is quite vinegary, as you put it, but she does mellow out. An explanation is present later on in the story.

Ch 3: Drea isn't really one to go 'wow' yet, especially since she's really only spoken to Draco to make fun of him. She kinda thinks he's a twit. It's kind of like when you see a really hot guy but you know that he's a prick so you don't really notice hot incredibly biche he is…

Ch 4: Draco is a good student, he just doesn't really care sometimes. He gets excellent grades and works quite hard in his classes. I've also played with the thought that perhaps he just wanted Drea to think that he was 'cool' so acted all casual about class.

Ch 5: Well… Blaise hasn't really done anything to make her hate him (yet) so she has no reason not to notice his attractiveness. This chapter contains scenes of Drea realizing that Draco is incredibly biche, inspired by you, so enjoy thoroughly! If I was at Hogwarts, I'd constantly have detention with Snape, not only because his dark, sarcastic sense of humor is very sexy, but also because he's obviously quite intelligent. Yay for violence!

Ch 7: You didn't like that line? Wow… that's one of my fav's. I admit that it's a bit out of character, but Drea does throw him off and I didn't think that it was so bad that it would ruin the story, so I left it in. It was meant to show that Draco doesn't really want to redeem himself or be accepted, he really just wants somebody to understand him.

Ch 9: This is my favorite chapter, so I'm really glad you liked it. Drea doesn't end up with Xander, they're just friends. I love the flashback, I think it's real funny. Keep reading, you leave great reviews and obviously enjoy the story muchly!

Okay so now that my two pages of shout-outs are finished, (BTW I will probably be moving them to their appropriate chapters in a couple of weeks, so if you're a bit late on the reading, and you reviewed and don't see your name, check the chapter(s) that you reviewed, as it's probably there,) you can read the fantastic chapter that took me about a billion years (or maybe three weeks…) to put out! (My spell-check tells me that this is a run-on sentence, but I don't care, I like it! **cheeky grin**)

* * *

Chapter 12 - The Feeling Is Mutual

Drea walked into Professor Snape's private chambers, closed the door and sunk to the floor. She sat there until she realized that her texts were digging into her stomach, then stood up slowly and walked to the sofa that she'd woken up on. She put her books on the side table and sighed deeply, realizing how much work she had ahead of her. She had two feet of parchment to write for Runes, a foot and a half for Potions, and a spell to create for Arithmancy. She finally picked up a quill and some parchment, opened her Runes text and got to work.

Two hours later, Professor Snape stormed into the room, slamming the door with such force that the word Drea had been writing became nothing but a scribble. He strode into his room without even looking at her. She wondered if he had forgotten about her, then finished her Arithmancy and started on her Potions assignment.

* * *

Draco sat in the Great Hall, impressing Durmstrang students and Hogwarts students alike with his amazing, heroic tale. Some of the Beauxbaton girls had even come to the Slytherin table, although Draco could tell that they weren't there for his story. He smirked inwardly, adding small lies into his story to make it more interesting. He loved being the center of attention.

He continued telling his story, which became more and more fascinating as time went by, but couldn't help but feel jealous of Drea's group of friends. They listened intently to her account of the past day's events, their faces changing to express their reactions to different parts of the story. He clenched his jaw and raised his voice, hoping to catch her attention. As usual, it failed.

* * *

Severus Snape stood in a dimly lit room with the school champions, fuming inside. Potter had once again been brought into the spotlight. Severus knew, under all of his anger, that Potter couldn't possibly have put his name into the goblet on his own, but was too furious to let this knowledge change his mood. He had already accused the boy of breaking the rules, but had felt no better after it. With no other students to target, he tried to satisfy himself by sending nasty glares in Potter's direction.

He stormed out of the Great Hall at the soonest possible moment, but was delayed on his way to his chambers by Moody, which only added to his annoyance.

"Good evening, Snape," he said cheerfully.

"I assure you that it is not," Severus replied darkly, resuming his journey to his chambers.

"You don't really think that Potter put his own name in the goblet do you Snape?" Moody answered almost as darkly, changing his expression with such speed that Severus was taken aback.

"What I believe or do not believe is none of your concern, Professor," he answered, spitting the last word out like venom.

"Don't think that I'm not keeping an eye on you."

Severus flung his door open and slammed it in Moody's face. He stormed into his bedroom and paced angrily. He clenched his jaw so firmly that it began to cause him pain. He finally lay down on his bed and pulled his pillow tightly around his head. He yanked the blankets over his body and forced himself to calm down. Without realizing it, he sank into a disturbed sleep.

* * *

Drea had finished her homework hours ago and now lay on the sofa, reading a large, leather-bound book containing some of the most rare potions ingredients. She began to drift off to sleep, only to be pulled away the sound of Professor Snape's footsteps. She sat up and closed the book, looking at him expectantly. His eyes were smoldering and she immediately wondered what she'd done to make him so angry.

"Sir, what's wrong?" she asked quickly, closing the book.

"Bloody Potter and his bloody need to be in the spotlight," he muttered quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, sir. A bit tired, but it is eleven thirty, so that's to be expected."

"You may return to the Common Room."

"Thank you," she said, rising from the couch. She collected her books and walked to the door. Before opening it, she turned to face him. "Sir, are you going to be alright?"

* * *

Severus paused to look at the girl. Nobody had asked him how he felt - aside from the Head Master - since his third year of teaching. It pained him to remember those times, so he banished the thoughts from his head and concentrated on his anger toward Potter.

"Yes, Ms Daray," he answered shortly, letting her know that he did not wish to discuss it.

"Okay," she said. He watched her open the door and leave, closing it gently behind her. He noticed that it now hung slightly crooked.

* * *

Draco read quietly in the Common Room. His hair fell into his eyes, which frustrated him, but he'd taken Snape's opinion to heart and had decided to take his advice. Observing himself in the mirror, he'd noticed that he did look less cold.

At eleven thirty-eight, Draco heard the portrait swing open. He looked over the top of his book and watched Drea walk in.

"Hey," she said tiredly.

"Hi," he said back.

Drea flopped into a chair across from Draco and dropped her books on the floor. Draco looked her up and down before he caught himself and turned away.

* * *

Drea cocked her head to the side and watched Draco curiously as he ran his eyes up and down her body. She smiled slightly, allowing it to extend to her eyes. She watched Draco notice what he was doing and almost laughed. He looked away and she allowed her eyes to travel along his body. His brown t-shirt was loose, but she could see that he was nicely built. Very nicely built, in fact. She turned away before her eyes could do any more wandering, but wondered why she hadn't noticed how attractive he was before now.

"Are you feeling any better?" he asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Yeah," she answered. "I really do appreciate that you left the party to bring me back."

"Yeah," he said distractedly. He finally brought his gaze back to hers and smiled.

"What?"

"Your make-up is smeared all under your eyes."

"Ah, a true sign that one is ready for bed," she said, reaching up to fix her eyeliner.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Good night then."

"Good night."

* * *

Friday was usually a day that one looked forward to, especially as the day got later. Severus Snape, however, dreaded it, as he had Slytherins and Gryffindors all afternoon. It wasn't that his House bothered him, but when they were around the Gryffindors (or any other House, for that matter,) they got quite obnoxious.

The week had been fairly uneventful, due to the fact that everyone was too involved in the Tri-wizard tournament to cause trouble. Severus tried to avoid the topic at all costs. It only reminded him of his younger days.

He sat at his desk, watching the students file into the classroom. Nearly every Slytherin student wore a badge bearing the words _Support CEDRIC DIGGORY - the REAL Hogwarts Champion!_ alternating with _POTTER STINKS._ He noted that Ms Daray entered the room with a girl who's name he had never learned, rather than with Draco, who she'd come in with every other day that week. He guessed that it had something to do with the badges.

Suddenly he heard shouting in the corridor. He stood up and walked calmly to the door, arriving just in time to see a red spell and a turquoise spell ricochet off of each other, one hitting Goyle, the other hitting Ms Granger.

"And what is all this noise about?" he said softly.

All of the Slytherins present rushed to offer their versions of the story, even some that Severus was sure hadn't been there. He pointed to Draco and said, "Explain."

"Potter attacked me, sir -"

"We attacked each other at the same time!" Potter shouted back.

"- And he hit Goyle - look -"

Severus examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book on poisonous fungi.

"Hospital wing, Goyle," Severus said calmly.

"Malfoy got Hermione!" the youngest Weasley boy said. "Look!"

Severus turned slowly to the girl, who was trying her hardest to hide her teeth, which had now grown past her collar. "I see no difference," he said coldly.

Ms Granger turned and ran down the corridor and out of sight. Potter and Weasley both started shouting at Severus at the same time. Unfortunately, their voices echoed so much in the corridor that it was impossible for him to hear exactly what they were calling him. He got the gist, however.

"Let's see," he drawled. "Fifty points from Gryffindor and detention for each Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a week's worth of detentions."

He watched the students walk into the classroom. Potter and Weasley were fuming, much to his satisfaction.

"Antidotes!" he said, beginning the lesson as though nothing unusual had happened. "You should all have prepared your recipes now. I want you to brew them carefully, and then we will be selecting someone on whom to test one…" He looked right at Potter, his dark eyes piercing into him. Potter looked back at him, the hatred in his eyes equal to that which Severus felt.

He had been about to continue his speech when there was a knock on the door. Colin Creevey walked into the room and up to his desk, grinning at Potter.

"Yes?" he said curtly.

"Please, sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

Severus stared down at the Creevey boy, causing his smile to fade away. "Potter has another hour of Potions to complete. He will come upstairs when this class is finished."

The boy went pink. "Sir - sir, Mr Bagman wants him," he stuttered. "All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs…"

"Very well, very well." Severus snapped. "Potter, leave your things here, I want you back down here later to test your antidote."

"Please sir - he's got to take his things with him. All the champions -"

"Very well! Potter - take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Potter very quickly slung his bag over his shoulder and strode out of the room.

"Well, why haven't you begun?" he demanded viciously of his class, then walked back to his desk. He sat there, observing the students, who worked even more nervously than usual. There was no doubt in his mind that most of them would see death if they had to take their antidote. He glared maliciously at anyone who looked at him, but did not allow his anger to creep into his gaze.

Ten minutes before the class ended, Ms Daray walked up to his desk, a vile of murky red liquid in her hand. She carefully placed it in the vile rack, then walked back to her desk. She cleared her space and sat quietly, exchanging the odd comment with the small girl beside her. She looked up and saw him watching her and sent what could have been a glare in disguise at him, then watched the girl's potion intently.

The class was due to end in three minutes and students were still rushing around trying to finish their potions. Ms Daray stared at the clock.

"Any volunteers to test their antidotes?" Severus asked in a sickeningly silky voice. Ms Daray stared at him, daring him to call on her. "No? Then I'll have to select someone myself. Let's see…"

"I'll do it sir." Ms Daray's aggressive tone pierced the nervous silence that filled the room. Every student in the room stared at her in surprise and awe.

"Come select your antidote, then," he said begrudgingly. Ms Daray picked up her vile and held it out to him. When he looked at her with a questioning look that only she could see, she answered just quietly enough that the students couldn't hear.

"If I'm to take the poison, someone is going to have to hold the antidote."

"Of course." He handed her a vile of shimmering black liquid. "A small sip will suffice."

Ms Daray nodded and took the vile in her hand, tipped her head back and swallowed the liquid, then sat in the chair in front of the room.

"Note the effects of the poison carefully. If we were to let the poison take complete control of her body, she would begin to twitch, vomit, and then eventually pass out. The final step, of course, would be death. You make take the antidote," he said, handing it to her.

She took the vile in her hand and brought it to her lips. Unfortunately, the tremors began and she spilled half of it down her front. Where it landed, her clothing decayed and must have been corroding her skin, but she forced herself to drink the remaining antidote. The shaking slowed down and eventually stopped, at which time the girl stood up, walked to her desk and stared back at him.

"Ten points to Slytherin." The class ended. "Ms Daray, Weasley, I'd like to speak with you."

Ms Daray walked up to his desk, anger visibly showing on her face. Weasley, on the other hand, was full of fear. _No, not fear. Hesitation._

"Have a seat, Weasley. Ms Daray, obviously you will be receiving top marks for your antidote." He paused and waited for a reaction, but got none. "What has upset you so much that your attitude toward me has changed completely?"

He finally got a reaction. It was minimal, and her eyes showed her surprise for only a moment. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think this is the time."

"Weasley, you and Potter have detention with myself tomorrow evening. You may go."

Weasley stood up and picked up his bags, nodded shortly and left the room.

"Is this more appropriate?" he asked in an almost sarcastic tone. He leaned back in his chair, daring her to speak. He knew that he was being immature, but the way that she was acting really irked him.

She paused for a moment, as though assessing the situation then placed her hands on the front of his desk as she began to speak.

"Your treatment of the Gryffindors is completely unfair. You speak to those people as though they hold less value than the potions the first years brew. I can understand that you have personal problems with that House, perhaps even individual students, but that gives you no right to treat them that way. As a teacher in this school, one would expect you to have the maturity of a teacher, not instruct students on how to poke fun at each other. Your favoritism for your own students is blatantly obvious in everything that you do. Quite frankly, after what I've seen today, I don't think that I can respect you on a personal level anymore. Any respect that I give you from this point on is only because you are a Professor."

She paused at the end of her speech, stared at him through narrowed eyes, then turned abruptly to pick up her bag. This gave Severus time enough to recover and think of a response.

"The way I treat my students is none of your concern. As I once explained to you, I have reasons for all that I do. If you can not see that, then you aren't as intelligent as I once thought."

"The feeling's mutual," she muttered.

"Excuse me, Ms Daray? Was there something you wanted to say to me?"

"I said, 'the feeling is mutual,' sir," she said through clenched teeth.

"Care to explain yourself?"

"If you can't see that every student in this place has reasons for the things that they do, then you aren't as intelligent as I thought either."

"You will not take that tone with me."

"Neville ruins his potions because of the amount of pressure you put on him."

"Five points from Slytherin."

"Potter only hates you because you treat him like shit."

"Detention, Ms Daray."

"He told you quite frankly that he and Draco attacked each other at the same time, and still you chose to ignore it and blamed him!" she yelled, spinning to face him.

"Get OUT!" he shouted. She threw her bag over her shoulder and stormed out of the room, not looking back even once.

* * *

As a final comment, I'd like to let all my readers know that I am taking a break from writing this fic. It willn't (yes, I know that this isn't a word, but to me, _won't _isn't a word... like how does will and not make won't?) last too long, probably about a month, but I have a lot of stuff that I have to deal with right now, what with school and my 'emotional instability' whatever the hell that means. I will try to keep writing, it just won't be as intense as usual, so when I do resume posting, I might have two or three chapters for you guys, so make sure to review! I'm also beginning a three-part fic about Severus as a twenty-four-year-old, which deals with the first time and last time he fell in love, lending reasoning behind his bitterness and fear of emotion. Will probably be posting that one at the same time that this one starts again. Thanks for so much support, all! MUAH! Peace out, my home-skillets. (Being a home-skillet is a good thing.) 


	13. Something Beautiful

Alright all, sorry for the far-too-long wait. I've had this chapter done for almost two weeks now, but I put it off for a bit because I wanted to start the next one first (which didn't happen) but then I got grounded from Fanfiction because I'm on here too much. Sigh. Anyhow, I'm back now, so I hope you like this chapter. Drea seems a bit out of character to some people, but if you look in the right places, it's actually quite accurate, you just haven't seen this side of her yet. Enjoy thoroughly and let me know what you think, be it good or bad.

**Anna – **I'm really glad that you like this one; that makes me feel good. The reason that Snape knows that Drea's mad at him is because she isn't even attempting to hide it. Snape is quite could at reading people's expressions and feelings and the fact that she isn't concealing it makes it quite obvious, probably even to some of her other classmates, like Draco and Candra. I'm glad you find Drea realistic; that's a good sign. Thanks for the review.

**Sage and Snape** **- **I was a bit unsure myself as to why he didn't get angry, which sounds weird but sometimes that the way it works. I'm thinking that it's probably because she's only stating her opinion at first and he's kind of trying to analyze her, but once it gets too personal that's enough for him.

**Kerichi** - Thanks for your review. I wanted to clear a few things up because I tend to write without thinking that other people don't know what's going on in my head. Firstly, I must state that none of that stuff with Snape not caring about Sirius has happened yet, as this takes place in the fourth book, and if it had, Drea still wouldn't have realized that, she doesn't know the boy. Drea is simply stating what she believes to be true, she knows nothing about their relationship. Also, a Mary-Sue is a character who is perfect, and if she were perfect she would be able to control her temper.

On a lighter note, I made one of those nut thing-ies in grade 2, it was awesome, only it was in French. I think I still have it somewhere. Thank you for your continued support, both in writing and in my personal life.

**Earelen** - So glad to here that you're back! I've missed your awesome reviews, which include both positive and negative comments. Nobody tried to kill anyone, by the way, and it's probably my fault for not specifying that better. The point was that someone mixed a potion with a drug-like effect (to get high) and alcohol (which we all know is a horrible combination.) Drea is the only one who had such a poor reaction to it, although others did get ill. Snape didn't recognize the poison because of the fact that a student, who intrigues him (although he doesn't take a liking to her yet), does well in school and has an obvious skill for potions, is having convulsions and visions that are quite life-like in his chambers. It isn't a direct affection toward her, but the fact that she is in danger does make him a bit flustered. He is quite aware that he doesn't have much time and although he has quite certainly dealt with more dangerous situations, we don't know if he's been able to keep his calm through them. He's also mentioned that Drea is the only person who's asked him how he was feeling in quite a while, therefore perhaps it triggered something inside him; not a romantic feeling or a feeling of deep caring, but perhaps something that made him not want to lose that. If you read my story, Goddess of my Shadows, that may cast some insight on the situation. Now that I've finished blabbing, I'll let you get on with the chapter. :D

* * *

Chapter Thirteen - Something Beautiful

On the Saturday before the first task, all the students in the third year and above were permitted to visit the village of Hogsmeade.

Candra and Jadon had gone to look for early Christmas presents and Drea didn't want to know where Cristi and Chase had gone. She now sat in the Three Broomsticks with Xander, where they quietly discussed, for the hundredth time, what the first challenge might be.

Xander had been explaining his theory that perhaps they would have to do battle with a large troll. Drea was trying very hard to listen, even though she'd already heard him telling Chase about it in the Common Room, but found that her mind's tendency to wander was too strong to fight any longer.

She looked around the building, observing all the different kinds of people that the village attracted. There were hags, normal folk, dangerous-looking men, fortunetellers, and a woman whom Drea was quite certain was actually a man in a miniskirt.

After she had satisfied her visual senses, she focussed on her hearing. She'd learned at quite an early age that the most interesting conversations were the ones that were difficult to hear, so she blocked out the loud shouting of the rambunctious teenagers around her and felt around for something more subtle.

She heard a deep, gruff voice speaking quietly, though she could not hear what was being said. She focussed in on the voice and noticed that it came from Professor Moody, who was leaning over Hermione's table. She was sitting alone, and yet Drea could have sworn that she'd heard Harry Potter's voice. Next, Hagrid bent over and asked 'Harry' to meet him at his cabin at midnight. Drea's eyes widened in excitement.

"Xander, stop talking."

"What? Why? I was just about to finish, give me a minute."

"No, you have to hear this," she said, and explained what she'd heard to him. "I haven't done anything exciting since I got here, I've been trying so hard not to get into trouble. I'm going through withdrawal."

"Hm, my memory must be failing me, as I thought I remembered you punching a girl in the nose on the first day," he said in his semi-sarcastic voice that always let you know that he was teasing you.

"That was a spur of the moment thing. This would be pre-meditated," she said, ignoring the mocking voice. "Tell me, do you have an invisibility cloak?"

"I know a good spell," he said, winking at her.

"You are a horrible Prefect."

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

At eleven thirty that night, Drea found herself squatting in wet grass, waiting for Harry to arrive. Sure, it wasn't the riskiest thing she'd ever done, but it was still more exciting than sitting around the Common Room reading. Plus, it gave her time to think.

She hadn't spoken to Professor Snape since her little outburst, aside from during the detention, at which time he simply told her to prepare the frog's liver, but she had spoken to Draco, though it hadn't been pleasant. It seemed like it was impossible for them to be friends for more than a week at a time. Every time she started to think that he was growing up, he pulled some stunt like the badges.

She'd spent most of her free time in the library, either studying or talking to Viktor. She found out from him that only two Durmstrang students had drunken the 'punch,' but several of the Hogwarts students had been in the infirmary for it, though none had suffered the way that she had. She assumed that it was due to the fact that she'd never had alcohol before. One of the more serious cases involved the cute red-head that often caught her attention in the Great Hall. She wasn't sure why, however, for he never really did anything out of the ordinary. She could have blamed it on the fact that he was always around Harry Potter. She could have also convinced herself that it was because Hermione always waved to her in the hallways and Ron was with her, but she would have known that it wasn't true because she always flicked her eyes in his direction before anyone else's. She wondered if it was the way that his eyes always showed how he was feeling…

She made sure to eat lunch with Candra and Xander and Chase and Jadon, though Chase was absent more often than not. She hadn't heard Jadon talk since he'd spoken about Draco, and that intrigued her more than anything else did. He was so quiet, but it didn't seem to be from lack of intelligence, like Vincent or Greg, it was more like his thoughts were so complex that he couldn't bring himself to voice them. His eyes were full of wisdom and concern for other people, but he usually just pursed his lips and looked away rather than offered his opinion.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps on crisp grass. She pushed herself further against the wall of the cabin, even though nobody could see her. She felt her pulse quicken and the familiar feeling of exhilaration that she normally felt when she was at risk of getting caught doing something that she shouldn't be doing.

The invisible person, whom Drea assumed was Harry, knocked on the door. "You there, Harry?" Hagrid whispered, opening the door and looking around.

"Yeah," said Harry. He must have moved into the cabin because he voice became more muffled. "What's up?"

"Got summat ter show yeh," said Hagrid.

"What're you showing me?" Harry asked. He sounded a bit afraid.

"Come with me, keep quiet an' keep yerself covered with that Cloak," said Hagrid. "We won' take Fang, he won' like it…"

"Listen, Hagrid, I can't stay long … I've got to be back up in the castle for one o'clock-"

If Hagrid had bothered to wonder why Harry needed to be back in the castle at that time, he didn't voice it. Drea's mind, on the other hand, was racing now. She was subconsciously coming up with wild reasons as to why he might possibly need to be there.

_The Prefects probably just check the rooms then_, she thought to herself. _Snap out of it._ Drea didn't snap out of it though, no matter how badly she wanted to. The adrenaline had taken over.

Drea looked up and realized that Hagrid and Harry had already left the cabin and were walking toward the Beauxbatons carriage. She ran quietly to catch up with them, careful to control her breathing. She'd been caught too many times because of her poor lung capacity; she wasn't about to get in trouble because of it again.

Drea missed the entire conversation at the carriage, but apparently Madam Maxime had been invited to 'see' as well.

"Wair is it you are taking me, 'Agrid?" she asked.

"Yeh'll enjoy this," he said gruffly. "Worth seein', trust me. On'y - don' go tellin' anyone I showed yeh, right? Yeh're not s'posed ter know."

"Of course not," said Madam Maxime.

They walked for such a long time that Drea considered tripping Harry, just for fun. Instead she spent her time following his footsteps.

Suddenly she heard a loud roar and the sounds of men shouting. Her heart leaped in her chest; something exciting was happening.

She nearly began running toward the sounds, but then remembered that they would probably notice her, so she kept behind Harry, who was walking painfully slow.

She finally looked up and to her amazement, saw dragons. Four huge, powerful, vicious-looking dragons.

"Keep back there, Hagrid," someone yelled. The dragons were beautiful. Drea hardly noticed when the couple started walking forward. She followed them without looking away from the dragons.

" …put them out with a Sleeping Draught on the way here, thought it might be better for them to wake up in the dark and the quiet - but , like you saw, there weren't happy, not happy at all - "

"What breeds you got here, Charlie?" she heard Hagrid ask.

When she finally looked away from the dragons, she saw something else beautiful. He was called Charlie.

Charlie had gorgeous red hair, which looked absolutely fantastic on him. His muscular arms shined in the firelight, covered in sweat from dealing with the dragons. He ran a hand through his hair and turned toward the creatures, at which point she got a better look at his face. His eyes were framed with dark eyelashes, a rare occurrence for someone bearing red hair. His eyes were a dull blue-green, but they showed his passion for the beasts, which made them lovely too. His lips were pulled back in an exhausted smile.

"This is a Hungarian Horntail," he said, pointing to the black dragon lying on the ground. "There's a Common Welsh Green over there, the smaller one - a Swedish Short-Snout, that blue grey - and a Chinese Fireball, that's the red."

Drea didn't have to turn her head to know what he was talking about; she's already figured out their breeds, aside from the Chinese Fireball.

"I didn't know you were bringing her, Hagrid," he said, frowning in Madam Maxime's direction. "The champions aren't supposed to know what's coming - she's bound to tell her student, isn't she?"

"Jus' thought she'd like ter see 'em," he said, shrugging. He appeared to be as fascinated by the dragons as she was.

"Really romantic date, Hagrid," said Charlie, shaking his head. Drea immediately thought of dating the boy - no, man - standing before her. Dragons would be perfectly fine for her, if she had any say in it.

"Four …" said Hagrid, "so it's one fer each o' the champions, is it? What've they gotta do - fight 'em?"

"Just get past them I think," said Charlie, crossing his arms. The action only made his muscles become more firm. "We'll be on hand if it gets nasty, extinguishing spells at the ready. They wanted nesting mothers, I don't now why … but I tell you this, I don't envy the one who gets the Horntail. Vicious thing. Its back end's as dangerous as its front, look."

Drea hardly had to look to know that it's end was covered in a large, spiky weapon, but she did anyway. She had to get her eyes away from the shag-worthy man in front of her. The firelight glinted off the copper-coloured spikes and reflected weird shapes onto the trees. Her mind had finally calmed down when Charlie spoke again.

"I've got them counted, Hagrid," he said sternly. "How's Harry?"

"Fine," said Hagrid. He was staring at the heap of eggs that the other workers had just brought in.

"Just hope he's still fine after he's faced this lot. I didn't dare tell Mum what he's got to do for the first task, she's already having kittens about him …" Drea realized that the man standing in front of her was a Weasley. Even though she didn't know Harry personally, she knew enough about him to know that he'd stayed with the Weasleys quite a bit. He began to imitate his mother, which nearly made Drea laugh. "_How could they let him enter that Tournament, he's much too young! I thought they were all safe, I thought there was going to be an age limit! _She was in floods after that Daily Prophet article about him. _He still cries about his parents! Oh, bless him, I never knew!_"

Drea wanted to stay and hear more, but she knew that she should leave. She stood there for a moment, as her body would not comply with her brain. She then heard Harry begin to walk away, which drew her out of her trance. She followed him carefully, which proved to be difficult, as he was walking quite quickly. He was obviously upset about something.

Without warning, Harry fell backwards, as though he'd hit something. _That's what you get for walking like a drunken blind moose. _Drea looked up and saw the very irritated face of Professor Karkaroff, looking around wildly, trying to find what he'd come in contact with. After a minute, he stormed off into the forest.

Harry began to stand up, but Drea put a hand on his shoulder and told him to keep quiet. When even she couldn't hear Karkaroff anymore, she gave him her hand and helped him up. She removed the spell quietly and revealed herself to him.

Harry rushed to explain. "I didn't know that he was showing me the task, I just - "

"Don't worry about it. Do you honestly think that Madam Maxime and Karkaroff aren't going to tell their students?" she asked, raising both eyebrows questioningly.

"I guess not. Who are you?" he asked after a pause.

"Drea Daray, Slytherin house." Harry glared reproachfully and took a step back. "I'm not going to curse you," she said in a frustrated voice. "We aren't all pricks like Draco."

"Forgive me for saying so, but I thought you two were friends."

"We were. We are. I don't know anymore. It's not important," she said, shaking her head.

"Why are you out here, anyway?"

"I heard you and Hagrid speaking in the Three Broomsticks and I decided to find out what was up." Harry looked frightened. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Honestly, considering Gryffindors are supposed to be brave, you're quite jumpy."

"I've got to go. I've got to get back to the castle -"

"By one o'clock. Yeah, I heard that part too. Just give me a second and I'll walk with you." Drea reapplied her spell and they walked back to the castle. She learned a lot about him in such a short amount of time. She found that, despite the fact that she'd never taken much of an interest in him because of Viktor's fame, she quite liked him. The fact that his best friend was Charlie's younger brother was a perk as well, though she didn't reveal this little bit of information.

Harry ran up the stairs to his Common Room, which Drea found that he also did like a drunken moose. She was forced to walk back to the dungeons alone, and accidentally released a short sigh. She whispered the password to the portrait and walked into the Common Room, which was empty. _Not surprising at 1 o'clock in the morning_, she thought tiredly. She walked to her room and flopped onto the bed. Without meaning to, she fell asleep without even brushing her teeth.

* * *

I'd like to give credit to Allison for the drunken moose line. YOU'RE MY INSPIRATION, YOU MOOSE YOU. Yeah, so like, review and all, because I like it, and you'll probably like it too. :D 


	14. We've Never Been Properly Introduced

Im sorry its taken me so long to update. I promise to do so more frequently, now that schools done. The song in this chapter is called Home by Three Days Grace. The words are slightly altered by myself to fit the story better, but I do not claim to own them in anyway. Enjoy, and please review!

* * *

Chapter Fourteen – We've never been properly introduced

She felt so hopeless, so useless. She'd felt that way every morning for the past few days, though the feeling would normally subside by lunchtime.

She'd wake up feeling nauseous and, despite knowing that nothing would happen, would run to the bathroom. She'd run hot water in the sink and allow the steam to clear her head and wash away the cold sweat forming on her brow, then return to her room as though nothing had happened. But she'd still feel hopeless.

* * *

"Congratulations Harry."

Ronald Weasley turned his head toward the voice, which sounded strangely apart from the screaming ones around him. When he saw who the voice belonged to, however, he turned away and tried not to blush, but he could feel his ears and neck turning red anyway.

Drea Daray had caught his attention since the first time he'd seen her, though at the time he'd tried to convince himself that it was because of her hair. It had diminished for a time, but his intrigue had been rekindled since Harry had told him about their conversation outside Hagrid's cabin.

"Thanks Drea," Harry answered, smiling broadly. Ron looked up at his older brother Charlie, who winked at him, then spoke to Drea, something that Ron could never have done.

"I love the colour of your hair," Charlie said casually, somehow managing the perfect smile.

"Thanks," Drea answered. "I based it on the Chinese Fireball, so naturally I was excited when I saw one here today."

"Charlie Weasley," his brother said, introducing himself and extending a hand. "I take it you know my brother Ron."

Ron pictured Charlie's head in one of Professor Snape's pickling jars, wearing an expression of shock, then turned around, hoping to look as though he hadn't even known she was there.

"We've never been properly introduced," Drea answered, cocking her head to the side and smiling slightly. His ears burned with embarrassment again, but he managed to extend a hand. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't think of a single thing to say. Fortunately, and for the first time, his brother's charm saved him from worse embarrassment.

"Well, Harry's gone off and left, but would you two like to come see the dragons? Obviously we share a common passion for the great beasts, Drea, and I know that Ron's always been fascinated by them, haven't you Ron?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, yeah, always," Ron answered awkwardly. Charlie knew that he didn't have an ounce of interest in the creatures, but he appreciated the gesture, though he would never tell his brother that.

* * *

_Oh my gods. Oh. My. Gods. Omigods._ was the only thing that went through Drea's mind from the first time Charlie spoke to her. She wasn't quite sure how, but she managed to form complete sentences despite being unable the think.

"So Ron was telling me that you transferred in from Durmstrang," Charlie said to her. "It must be nice to see your old friends again."

"Quite the opposite actually," she answered. "Although I suppose I am happy to see the only one of them that I can consider an actual friend."

"Oh? And who's that?" he asked.

"Viktor Krum. I hadn't spoken to him all summer, so it was nice to have a real conversation with him again."

"Viktor Krum!" Ron exclaimed, his voice raising a note or two. "You know Viktor Krum?"

"I dated him, actually," she responded. "He's a really fantastic guy, it just wasn't right. We realized that we only cared about each other as friends."

Ron stared at her, his mouth open, eyes full of excitement and disbelief.

Charlie chuckled and opened the door to the tent, where the dragons were kept. The horntail was thrashing about wildly.

"She's been a bit irritable since Harry threatened her nest."

To say that the beast was irritable was the understatement of the year.

"Looks like Mum when I've forgotten to clean my room," Ron stated.

Drea laughed for the first time in weeks.

* * *

Drea awoke and ran to the bathroom. The dry heaving lasted longer than usual and her dreams were becoming increasingly worse. She sat on the edge of the toilet for a minute, head in her hands, then walked to the sink to wash her face and brush her teeth.

She dried her face on a towel, then walked to the mirror, only to find that her face was still wet, only this time, the moisture that coated her cheeks was warm and salty.

Drea closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. She counted backwards from 13, then carefully and pathetically asked the gods why she was feeling this way. She'd been thinking about her parents a lot lately and had been having nightmares nearly every night. She'd almost talked to Viktor about it, but had an overwhelming sensation that there was no point.

Drea wiped her cheeks, took a deep breath and opened her eyes, only to see Draco Malfoy staring back at her through the mirror.

* * *

Draco fought back the urge to look away from Drea's intense stare. Her eyes were full of anger and hurt, but that wasn't what worried him. Behind the anger, Draco could see that Drea was giving up.

He wanted to speak to her, let her know that he would take care of her and make it all better, but even if he had been able to formulate a complete thought, the words would have caught in his throat. Instead, he moved toward her, petrified by the idea of touching her.

She finally turned around to face him, gripping the sink firmly behind her. Her chest expanded with each shallow breath. He hesitated, then held out a hand to comfort her

"Draco, no. I … don't want you touching me when I'm like this," she said, almost inaudibly, turning her gaze away from him.

"Drea…" he said, wanting an explanation but not knowing what to say to get one. Her eyes, which had been grief-ridden only moments earlier, were now completely blank, not allowing him to see what the girl was feeling. Her tear-streaked face was the only indication that anything had happened. "Drea, tell me what's wrong," he said gently, moving toward her again.

* * *

"I told you not to touch me! You have to leave. Now!" Drea shouted, pushing him away from her and running from the room.

She had the distinct feeling that she'd seen, maybe ever experienced, the scene that had just taken place, which only added to her frustration and confusion. She summoned her guitar and ran out of the school, stopping to catch her breath only after reaching the lake.

She wasn't sure if she'd gone to the lake out of comfort or because she'd known that Draco would follow her there, but she was glad when she saw him trotting up to her.

She wasn't crying now, but she felt that perhaps that would have been easier at the moment. _At least if I was crying,_ she thought,_ I wouldn't have to try to explain._

As it turned out, she never had to explain. Draco sat down beside her and remained silent for the next twenty minutes.

"Are you any good?" he finally asked, motioning to the guitar with his eyebrows. Draco's eyebrows were very expressive, Drea noticed.

"I'm alright," she answered.

"Play me something?"

Drea inhaled to say no, then slowly nodded and picked up the guitar. "Shall I sing then?" she asked as a joke, but she was too tired for any expression to come through in her voice.

"If you like."

Drea sat quietly, deciding which song to sing. Finally she chose a song to match her mood, performed the necessary spells to her guitar and took a deep breath.

"_I'll be coming home, just to be alone  
_'_Cause I know you're not there, and I know that you don't care  
__I can hardly wait to leave this place_

_No matter how hard I try, you're never satisfied,  
__This is not a home, I think I'm better off alone.  
__You always disappear, even when you're here,  
__This is not a home, I think I'm better of alone._

_This house is not a… HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME!_

_By the time you come home, you're already stoned  
__You turn of f the t.v. and you scream at me  
__I can hardly wait 'til you get off my case_

_No matter how hard I try, you're never satisfied,  
__This is not a home, I think I'm better off alone.  
__You always disappear, even when you're here,  
__This is not a home, I think I'm better of alone.  
__  
This house is not a home,  
__I'm better off alooooone."_

"Wow, that was… deep," Draco said after she finished.

"I wrote that after my mom left." Drea paused here, unsure if she wanted to continue.  
She would call me and yell at me about my dad and her job. Some if it is about before she met Demitri. She had a major break down a few years ago and… well, it doesn't matter. Demitri takes better care of me than both of my parents could ever have done." Drea sighed softly. "At least I can trust that he won't force me into anything," she added quietly, feeling betrayed.

"I know what you mean," Draco responded, enveloping her hand in his own. He had no idea just how right he was.

* * *

Please please PLEASE review. Im all alone in Quebec for the next six weeks and its been a super long time since i updated, and some support, be it positive or negative, would be much appreciated. 


	15. Good Night, Ladies

**Chapter 15** – Good Night, Ladies

It was the weekend before Christmas and Drea was spending her Saturday in Hogsmeade, shopping for presents for Demitri, Draco, Xander, Candra, Jadon, Chase and Cristi. She'd thought about buying a present for Hermione, but had decided not to as she would have to buy presents for the two males in the group known unfondly by the Slytherins as the Golden Trio, and she wasn't comfortable enough with them yet.

Drea had also considered buying something for Professor Snape, but had decided against it. He would only think that she was trying to make up for what she had said to him, although that wasn't the case at all. She didn't regret it at all, aside from the fact that she'd yelled at him.

The only people she had left to buy for were Draco and Xander. She stared into her hot apple cider, trying to think of appropriate gifts.

"Drea!" someone called to her, pulling her out of a trance.

"Hello Hermione," she answered, nodding to the two boys behind the frizzy-haired girl. She waved them over to her table and asked about their plans for Christmas.

"Well of course we're staying at the castle, because of the Yule Ball," Hermione answered, as though it was the most obvious thing in the entire wizarding world.

"Me too," Drea said, "But I think I might be leaving for a week after that to spend time with Demitri, my father."

"Have you found someone to go with?" Hermione asked. Drea had always thought that Hermione was the type of girl who didn't care about boys and balls, and found herself surprised at the amount of interest that the girl had.

"Uh… no, I hadn't even thought of it," she admitted. "I'll probably end up going with Viktor, since we dated last year and he doesn't know anyone here anyway."

Hermione's eyes widened and Drea realised immediately that Viktor had finally gotten up the courage to ask the girl. She felt a bit jealous, but blamed it on sisterly love and gave Hermione a little half-smile to let her know that it was okay.

"Of course, he's probably been asked by so many girls that he doesn't know which way to answer," she said, laughing.

"Hermione won't tell us who she's going with," Ron complained, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't worry boys, she's in good hands," Drea answered, flicking up the side of her mouth. She always enjoyed causing innocent commotion. Hermione looked terrified and the boys looked shocked.

"You told her and not us! Some friend," Ron huffed. Drea laughed, and then took a sip of her cider.

"So… have you gotten all of your presents?" Harry asked, forcing conversation. Drea almost wished that he'd let the silence take gentle presence.

"Almost. I've still got two left, and I have no idea what to get them."

"Did you want to come with us?" Harry asked, glancing at his red-headed friend and trying to hide his smile.

"No thanks," she answered, "They're kind of personal gifts. But thanks for the invitation. I'd better be going. Nice seeing you guys."

* * *

Drea felt nothing but relief when she left the coffee shop. It had been an awkward situation, with Hermione's embarrassment and Ron's huffiness, and it felt good to breathe again, and to be alone with her own quiet thoughts. 

She wandered through numerous shops before buying a large book of spells for Xander. It looked old enough to be interesting, but was kept in very good condition. She then set off to look for the most difficult present yet.

She flopped into bed that afternoon, incredibly satisfied with her purchases. She dreamt that Professor Snape was brewing a batch of candy, singing, "What's This?" from Tim Burton's classic film, "The Nightmare before Christmas."

* * *

Drea awoke and crawled out of bed, wondering if she'd missed supper or not. She stretched, yawned, and rubbed the back of her neck, then headed for the Common Room. On her way out the door, someone ran into her shoulder. Hard. 

Drea knew immediately that it was Pansy, but to her surprise, the girl was crying. She knew that something had to be seriously wrong for the brunette to be visually displaying weakness and emotion.

Before she could even open her mouth to ask what was wrong, Pansy snarled, "Keep out of it, orphan."

"Whatever," she answered, rolling her eyes. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what happened."

"Who said I wanted your help?"

"Well, since the only thing anyone wants to do in this House is gossip about everyone else, and I have absolutely no interest in that, I'm probably your best bet." She sat down on her bed and crossed her legs. "Go on, tell me what happened."

Normally, Drea wasn't the kind of person to care about the petty problems that normally troubled teenage girls, but understood that sometimes all that's needed is the calm reassurance that somebody is willing to listen.

Pansy scowled and looked away, trying to control her emotions, but Drea could see the lump forming in the girl's throat. "Come on, Pansy, I'm not going to laugh or whatever it is that you're worried about."

Pansy looked Drea straight in the eye, and then spat at her feet.

"Well, that was pleasant. Kind of makes me wonder why you don't have anyone you can trust," Drea said sarcastically. "I'm going for supper. Come get me if you feel like talking."

* * *

Drea sat in the Common Room, writing a letter to her father. It wasn't a long letter, but it had taken her a long while to write it. So much had happened so far, but most of what had happened were things that she didn't want to bother her father with. She folded the parchment, slipped it into an envelope, and sealed it with green wax. Placing the envelope on the table next to her, she noticed that only she and Pansy were still in the room. She cocked her head to the side and glanced at the girl, who was reading a magazine. After a few minutes, the girl closed her book and looked right into Drea's eyes. 

"It was Blaise," Pansy answered simply, as though that should make all the sense in the world.

"What about him in particular?" Drea asked, trying to be patient. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to act, having grown up with Demitri. There obviously hadn't been a lot of female bonding in her life.

"You can't tell anyone. Or else –"

"Yes alright."

"Well, the other night I slept with Blaise. And… it… it was my first time." Pansy paused here, judging Drea's reaction.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Drea asked angrily. It wasn't that she cared about, or even liked Pansy, it was that she'd known many people in Durmstrang who'd been abused in relationships, and it was just something that infuriated her, despite the fact that she hadn't cared for any of them.

"Oh no, he was very sweet about the whole thing, telling me how amazing it was and the like. Anyhow, today I just wanted to make sure that we were still going to the Yule Ball together, and he looks at me like I'm loony and starts laughing at me, in front of everyone. I was so humiliated that I ran all the way back here. Then, tonight at dinner, he was flirting with Higgins, who isn't even pretty, right in front of me, and kept glancing at me while he was doing it. I was so sure that we were going to the ball together, and now I don't have a date."

Drea stared at the girl in what she hoped was a sympathetic manner, trying to figure out what to say. She finally settled on, "I'm sure you'll find someone, Pansy." At that point, the brunette began to cry again.

"It's not just the ball. I gave him something that I've never given anyone, and this is how he treats me."

"Well…" Drea began cautiously, "You'll just have to show him that you can do better." Pansy looked surprised, and then almost happy. "Yeah, that's a good idea. But who can I go with? Everyone's already got dates."

"I'm sure you'll be okay," Drea answered, standing up. "Besides, you should be worrying about what to wear, and how to do your hair, not some boy who doesn't appreciate you. He's obviously a self-centred prick, so don't bother with him, he isn't worth your time."

Pansy nodded and forced a smile. Drea heard a small, "Thanks, Daray," then watched the girl walk out of the room. She walked to a large chair in front of the fireplace, thinking about everything she had yet to do. _Wrap presents, send dad's present, find a date, and find something to wear…_

Drea's eyes widened at the realisation that she hadn't even found something to wear yet. She summoned her broomstick and ran out the Common Room door, and ran into a tall, hard surface.

"Glad to see the tradition remains," Draco said, smiling genuinely.

"Yeah." Suddenly, Drea had an idea. "Hey, I need to talk to you about the dance. Ball. Whatever. Are you going with anyone yet?" she said hurriedly.

"No, I'm not. Are you?" he asked, eyes twinkling.

"No. I need you to do me a favour."

"Anything," he said, smiling.

"You need to ask Pansy to the ball, but you can't tell her that I had anything to do with it."

Draco stood in shocked silence for what must have been a full minute before he finally managed a short, "Why?" His voice, which was normally deep and silky, cracked a little. Drea might have found it cute if she hadn't been in such a rush.

"I can't tell you, she'd be furious. Please, Draco, this is really important."

"But - "

"Draco… please."

"Yes, alright," Draco answered, looking annoyed. "But tell me, who are you going with?"

Drea opened her mouth to answer, then paused, as though realising for the first time that she didn't have a date. "…I don't know. I'll find someone. Thanks Draco. I've gotta go, I need to find something to wear!"

"See you," Draco said unenthusiastically.

Drea waved without looking back.

* * *

When Drea finally got back from her midnight shopping spree, she flopped onto her bed without even looking at it. She landed with a crunch and stood up quickly. On her bed was a small, silver-wrapped box. She picked it up and read the label. Happy Christmas Drea From Draco Drea carefully unwrapped the gift. Inside the miniature box, she found an emerald guitar pick, magicked to weigh the proper amount. Engraved in gold on one side was a magnificent serpent, and on the other, a woman sitting on a rock, reading a book, a sword at her side. It took Drea a moment to realise that this was to represent her. Her middle name, Atheanae, was a modification of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. 

Drea picked up the guitar pick, testing its weight and size. It was absolutely perfect. It even had a slight indent for her thumb, which fit exactly how she held it. She was looking at the way the light refracted though the gem when she heard a knock at the door.

"Glad you like it," Draco said. "Is Pansy here?"

"Draco?" Pansy called from where she was wrapping her gifts on her bed.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"Of course," Pansy cooed. Draco walked over to her bed and put his arms around her shoulders, speaking softly into her ear.

"I know it's probably too late, but do you have a date for the Yule Ball? I was hoping you would come with me."

"Of course!" Pansy shrieked, turning and embracing the boy.

"Perfect," Draco answered, kissing her on the forehead. "I'll meet you here tomorrow night then."

"Yes, sure," Pansy said, still staring at him.

"Good night, ladies," Draco said, strolling out of the room. Drea beamed at him. Pansy seemed to take notice of Drea for the first time.

"What have you got in all those bags?" she asked.

"My dress, some gift wrap, shoes, a bit of jewellery. Which reminds me, I have to send my dad his gift." Drea regretted the words the moment they came out of her mouth. Surprisingly, Pansy didn't comment.

"Alright. Good night, Daray."

"Good night, Pansy."

* * *

Wow, it's been FOREVER! Sorry this took so long, I went to Quebec this summer and it's proven to be quite difficult to think in French and write in English. I've had this chapter written forever, but the first draft came out as a 15 minute blur, so it's taken some time to go through it and fix it. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, but if the homework load keeps up, it just might be. Sorry this chapter is written so poorly, but it's hard to go back and re-write stuff that you've written. It's kind of the only way I can see it now, even though I know it's wrong or doesn't really make sense. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! 

Ciao for now ;)

**Earelen** - Don't worry, that line's supposed to be confusing. It is like a deja vu of sorts, but this will become more clear furthur on in the story, or even if you look back a few chapters. Thanks for reviewing, it means so much to me that you're keeping up with the story!

**Collins** - Thanks for your review. Actually, at the time I hadn't read the new book... shudders at the thought of having to wait 3 weeks to read it Alas, I am ashamed.

**Brianne** - You're right, you are a loser.

**Sever13** - Thanks so much! I believe her hair is black at the moment, but I'm thinking about changing it for the Yule Ball. Any suggestions?

**Kerichi** - Quebec was AWESOME, thanks for asking. And don't worry, I have a plan for Ron and his little infatuation. Death to Mary-Sue! Ouch, that must suck to actually be named Mary-Sue. Can you imagine how much the FanFiction nerds would tease you? Anywhos, awesome review, and I definitely see it in a positive light.

**Sage and Snape** - Yeah that chapter was written poorly. So is this one... Gah! Anyways, hope to talk to you on MSN soon, and hoping you find the time to write, though as I understand it, university is super hard, so don't worry about it too much. Thanks for the continued support!


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